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THE 



VISITOR'S GUIDE 



TO THE 



PUBLIC ROOMS AND CABINETS 



AMHERST COLLEGE: 



S. preliminary ^t^axi. 



BY 



:drfir- 



CHARLES H. HITCHCOCK, A.M., 



CUBATOR OF THE CABINETS AND LECTURER ON ZOOLOOT. 



AMHERST: 

FOR SALE BY THE JANITOR, NO. W NORTH COLLEGE, 

AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS IN TOWN. 

18 6 2. 



iv* 



THE 



VISITOR'S GUIDE 



TO THE 



PUBLIC ROOMS AND CABINETS 



OP 



AMHERST COLLEGE; 



% ^rtliminars §ltport 



B Y 

CHARLES H! HITCHCOCK, A.M., 

CIJKATOR OF THE CABINETS AND LECTURER ON ZOO I. COT. 



A M H E K S T : 

FOR SALE BY THE JANITOR, NO. ^ NORTH COLLEGE, 

AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS IN TOWN. 

'l 8 6 2. 



J J) s^* 



Gift. 
"Wm. J. 



i 



CONTENTS. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT ^^°J 

POSITION OF THE COLLEGE BUILDINGS 13 

The College Tower 2^ 

The Library Building and Williston Hall . . . .15 

The Gymnasium 2g 

The Astronomical Observatory 19 

Cabinet op Natural Philosophy 20 

THE WOODS (5^BINET 21 

Rocks of Continental Europe 25 

Missionary Collection .27 

United States Collection 36 

Massachusetts Collection 38 

Rooks op England and the West Indies .... 42 

DICKINSON NINEVEH GALLERY 45 

Geological Lectdre-Room and Vermont Collection . . 51 

THE SHEPARD CABINET 53 

ICHNOLOGICAL CABINET 56 

Group I, Marsupialoid Animals 65 

Group II, thick-toed Birds 67 

Group III, narrow-toed Birds, and Group IV, Ornithoid 
Lizards, etc 69 

Group V, Lizards, and Group VI, Batrachians . . 71 
Group VII, Chelonians; Group VIII, Fishes; Group IX, Crus- 
taceans AND Insects 73 

Group X, Annelids or Worms 74 



IV CONTENTS » 

THE ADAMS ZOOLOGICAL CABINET 76 

Its History 76 

Contents 83 

Description of the Specimens ...,.,. 86 

Protozoa and Radiata . 87 

MoiiLUSCA AND ArTICULATA . .89 

Fishes , o 90 

Amphibia and Reptiles 91 

Mammals 92 

Birds 95 

Botanical Specimens ......... 97 

Articxtlata . 98 

mollusca 100 



PRELIMINARY REPORT. 



-»♦♦• 



The Curator has several objects in view in preparing this 
brief outline of the Public Rooms and the most interesting 
objects in the Cabinets of Amherst College. The first is to fur- 
nish visitors with the means of profitably examining the collec- 
tions, of which most persons, who pass through them without 
such a guide, obtain a very meagre knowledge. The second 
is to furnish visitors with a souvenir of the cabinets, which they 
can profitably examine on their return home. The third is a 
hope that visitors and others may be led to patronize the cabi- 
nets, either by pecuniary donations or by specimens ; and espec- 
ially when they learn that nearly all the collections have been 
placed here, not by money from the College treasury, but by 
individual effort and beneficence. The fourth is to make this 
pamphlet a sort of Curator's report of his labors and the pres- 
ent state of the cabinets, to the Trustees , Prudential Committee, 
the College oflicers, and friends in the community. # 

In reference to this last object the Curator ventures to remark, 
that he has reason to suppose that the nature and duties of his 
office are but imperfectly understood by many, and therefore 
he feels bound to state what in his view they embrace. It is 
probable that most persons consider that the chief and almost 
the only duty of the curator is to have an oversight and super- 
intendence of the cabinets, taking care that they are kept secure 
from injury, and in a proper state for exhibition and use by the 
professors. These objects are indeed included in the office, 
though most of them belong rather to the janitor. But a cura- 
torship, as it is understood in the large cabinets of Europe and 
1* 



6 PRELIMINARY REPORT. 

our own country, embraces many other objects; such as the 
following : — 

1. One is to endeavor to supply deficiences in the collections, 
and to increase the number of specimens by correspondence 
with naturalists and others in various parts of the world, by 
exchanges and by expending any funds that may be obtained 
for that purpose. Any large cabinet will deteriorate rapidly 
where strenuous efforts of this kind are not made. 

2. Another duty is to arrange the different collections accord- 
ing to the highest authorities, to fix a printed number and the 
name and locality upon each specimen, and make out a descrip- 
tive catalogue of the whole. Till this is done cabinets are of 
comparatively small value. 

3. A third duty is to obtain by personal study, or the aid of 
distinguished naturalists, the true scientific names of all the 
specimens. No man living has a sufficiently thorough knowledge 
of all the branches of natural history to be able to give accurate 
specific names to large collections. Very few can do it in more 
than one science. Hence the curator must resort to gentlemen 
of distinguished ability, who have made a particular branch a 
speciality. This is a difficult, laborious, and somewhat expen- 
sive part of a curator's duty. 

4. Fourthly, it is sometimes made a curator's duty to lecture 
upon one or more branches of natural history. 

So exte«sive are these duties, that in many large cabinets it 
is customary to appoint several curators ; one, for instance, in 
botany, another in zoology, and another in mineralogy and 
geology. 

The Curator of the Amherst cabinets has considBred all the 
above objects to belong to his office, and since his appointment, 
four years ago, he has done what he could to accomplish them. 
But he has labored under grave difficulties. The smallness of 
the compensation for the curatorship (one hundred dollars annu- 
ally) has compelled him to be absent a considerable part of the 
year in other employments ; though while absent he has been 
able to do not a little for the cabinets in collecting specimens. 



PRELIMINARY REPORT. 7 

carrying on correspondence, visiting distinguished naturalists 
and other cabinets, in order to get specimens named, etc. In- 
deed, he thinks that nearly half of his time has been given to his 
curatorship ; and the following are among the objects accom- 
phshed : — 

1. Opening a correspondence with naturalists, graduates of 
the college, and others, especially with missionaries in distant 
regions. This has been done to a considerable extent ; but the 
curator has felt cramped in this matter by the fear that if too 
wide a correspondence was opened, and too many exchanges 
negotiated, the pecuniary means in his hands (the income of the 
Natural History Fund) would be insufficient even to pay the 
necessary expenses. Yet the great number of foreign mission- 
aries that have gone out from Amherst College, and their gener- 
ous readiness to obtain specimens without compensation, make 
this a most important branch of the curator's duty. 

2. Obtaining new specimens such as the following : — 

(rt.) Fossil footmarks of the value of more than one thousand 
dollars. These were paid for chiefly from a fund in the hands 
of the Curator's father, obtained by him for this purpose from 
benevolent individuals, 

(b.) Zoological Specimens: — Mammals, 150; Birds, 490; 
Fishes, 175 ; Invertebrates, 800. 

(c.) Geological Specimens : — Rocks from Vermont and Rhode 
Island ; Fossils from Africa, Asia Minor, England, Ireland, Vir- 
gina, Vermont, New York, Kansas, the Rocky Mountains, New 
Brunswick, Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, 
etc., amounting to upwards of 2000 specimens. 

3. Obtaining the names of specimens. The Curator has not 
ventured to do this on his own authority to much extent, except 
in geology. But he has been fortunate enough to obtain assist- 
ance from eminent naturalists, so as to get names placed upon 
the following collections by those to whom they were sent at 
Washington, Ohio, Albany, Cambridge, and Montreal. 

(a.) The Fishes sent to the Smithsonian Institution. 
(&.) The Crustaceans sent to Prof Spencer Baird, of Wash- 
ington. 



8 PEELIMINARY REPORT. 

(c.) The Echinoderms sent to Prof. Agassiz. 

(d.) The Carboniferous and Tertiary Fossil Plants sent to 
Leo. Lesquereux, Esq., in Columbus, Ohio, and Principal 
Dawson of the McGill College, Montreal. 

(e.) The Fossils of Vermont to Prof. James Hall, of Albany, 
and E. BiUings, Esq., Palaeontologist of the Canada Survey, 
Montreal. 

4. Considerable progress has been made in the great work of 
arranging, labelling, and cataloguing the collections ; especially 
the following : — 

(a.) Printed names have been attached to nearly all the 
specimens of fossil footmarks, prepared on a small hand-press 
owned by the department of Natural History, and according to 
the "Ichnology of New England," where they are described. 
A full descriptive catalogue is also well advanced. 

(p.) The same has been done to the Massachusetts collection 
of rocks and minerals. 

(c.) Also to the Vermont collection of rocks, minerals, and 
fossils. 

The la'st two collections are fitted up according to the Cura- 
tor's beau ideal of the manner in which a cabinet should be 
labelled, viz. with a printed number referring to a catalogue, 
and a printed name on each specimen, so that they can be 
studied without taking them from the cases. To carry this sys- 
tem through all the Amherst cabinets must require several years 
of labor ; but it would exceedingly enhance their value. 

(d.) In bringing Professor Adams's great collection of mol- 
lusca together from several rooms, it became necessary to re- 
arrange the whole, in order to place the specimens in the order 
which he had indicated. This has been done, and it proved a 
work of no inconsiderable labor. A similar work has been 
performed among all the classes of animals, or all the specimens 
exhibited in the zoological cabinets. 

The specimens of most of the reptiles have just (1862) been 
sent to Mr. Edward D. Cope, of Philadelphia, for names ; and 
he is abundantly qualified to give them correctly. 



MELIMINARY REPORT. 9 

(e.) A brief course of lectures on Zoology, amounting to ten or 
twelve, has been given to the Senior Class, by the Curator, each 
of the four last years ; also, several on Geology, occasionally to 
aid his father when required, agreeably to an understanding 
with the Trustees. 

This summary will show, it is hoped, that the Curatorship is 
no sinecure, and that something has been done to bring the cabi- 
nets into such a condition as will make them most valuable and 
useful. But they will also see that a great amount of work 
remains to be done. 

The Curator wishes it to be understood that he has had noth- 
ing to do with the Cabinet of Professor Shepard, that gentleman 
having had the entire oversight and management of his own 
collections. So also, the committee, after the expenditure of the 
Natural History Fund, employed for one season Mr. George 
Goodale to arrange the herbaria. The Professor of Geology, 
likewise, has done what severe infirmities would allow him in his 
department. And it might be thought that each Professor ought 
to act as curator in his department. Were there Professors for 
all the great branches of Natural History, as in the European 
Universities, as there is for Mineralogy and Botany, it might be 
the best course. But as matters now stand, a large part of the 
collections would be left unprovided for. The Curator is, in- 
deed, the assistant of the Professors, while he looks after all that 
is not embraced in their departments. 

The following pages will show essentially the general state of 
the cabinets, but the following summary of their contents at 
present will give a better idea of their extent : — 

MINKRALS, ROCKS, AND FOSSILS. 

Simple Minerals, ....... 2,200 

Rocks and Fossils of Continental Europe, . . . 600 

do. from England, . . . . 600 

do. from Asia, 1,200 

do. from the West Indies, . . . 225 

do. of the United*^tates, . . . 4,000 



10 PRELIMINARY REPORT. 

Rocks and Fossils of Massachusetts, .... 3,200 

do. of Connecticut, . . . . .800 

do. of Vermont, . . . . . 2,300 

Fossils — a general collection from Europe, . . . 500 

do. from the Permian Formation, . . . 100 

do. from the Paris Basin, 124 

do. miscellaneous from Europe, Africa, Kansas, etc., 500 

Economic collection of Mnerals and Rocks from Europe, 300 

Polished Marbles, Alabasters, etc., . . . . . 162 

PLANTS. 

Dried Plants (species), 4,000 

Smoothed Sections of Wood, 1 75 

Seeds and Fruits, 400 

ANIMALS. 

Manikin and Casts of Human and other Crania. . . 63 

Mammals (Quadrupeds), stuffed, and Skeletons, . '. 130 

Birds, . 256 

Nests of Birds, 70 

Eggs of Birds, 175 

Reptiles, 150 

Amphibia, . . 85 

Fishes, 250 

Crustaceans and "Worms, . . '. . . . . 200 

Insects (species), 4,800 

Mollusca, 8,000 

Animals of Mollusca, . . . . . . . 155 

Radiated Animals (Corals, etc.), 250 

Amorphozoa, Sponges, etc. (specimens), . . . 127 

FOOTMARKS. 

Individual Tracks, . . . . . . . . 9,000 

PROFESSOR SHEPARD'S CABINET. 

Simple Minerals (specimens), . . . . . 10,000 
Technological Collection, 500 



PRELIMINARY REPORT. 11 

Meteorites (specimens), 162 

Fossils and Rocks (specimens), 6,000 

Mollusca (specimens), 5,000 

Dried Plants (species), 6,000 

ARCH^OLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. 

Nineveh Gallery. Sculptures, Bricks, Antique Gems, Pot- 
tery, etc., Modern Articles of Dress, Ornaments, etc., 
from Mesopotamia ; Fresco, etc., Coins, chiefly ancient, 1,000 

Virtu. Casts in Sulphur and Plaster, and Copper 
Medallions 317 

Indian Relics, 1,100 

The greatest deficiency in the collections is probably in the 
fossils. The Curator hopes that some benevolent gentleman 
who may notice this fact ■will be led to appropriate one or two 
thousand dollars to supply this most important desideratum, as 
might now be done to great advantage. 

The Curator would say a word in regard to the true theory of 
a college cabinet ; or, in other words, the objects to be aimed 
at in amassing these various specimens. The grand object is to 
afford to students an opportunity of seeing and examining sys- 
tematic collections of all the animals and plants that now live, 
or ever have lived, upon our earth. The nearer the collections 
approach completion, the more perfect will be the knowledge 
acquired from them. It is not to be expected that every student 
whose attention is directed to the study of Zoology and Geology 
will make a proper use of his privileges. Indeed, so far as the 
majority of students are concerned, very meagre collections 
would suffice. But for the few who are determined to make the 
most of their advantages, comprehensive collections are neces- 
sary. The grand plan upon which all created objects are built, 
as it has been illustrated by the Creator, must be learned, and 
this cannot be appreciated until the whole series of animate beings 
has been arranged in systematic order, presenting all the links 
of the chain at once to view. No certain conclusions of practical 
or religious interest can be obtained from an incomplete series. 



12 PRELIMINARY REPORT. 

No preconceived notions of the order or completeness of crea- 
tion are of any value until tested by the objects themselves. 

A secondary object of a college cabinet, and one of no small 
importance, is to aiford transient visitors much valuable knowl- 
edge. No college, it is true, would make this a primary motive 
for the establishment of a cabinet ; still, the imparting of knowl- 
edge to a community is important. In the year 1859, by actual 
count, it was ascertained that the Appleton Cabinet was visited 
by fifteen thousand persons, and many of them spent hours in 
examining the collections, so that it may be taken for granted 
that they were interested, as well as profited, by what they saw. 
The cabinet can be seen, at all hours of the day, by visitors, with- 
out any charge. 

C. H. H. 

Amherst, May 1, 1862. 



VISITORS' GtTIDE 

TO THE PUBLIC ROOMS AND CABINETS. 



There are ten large buildings on College Hill, owned 
and occupied by the authorities of Amherst College, viz. 
the Johnson Chapel, three dormitory buildings, Williston 
Hall, Barrett Gymnasium, Appleton Cabinet, Woods Cab- 
inet and Lawrence Observatory, the President's house, and 
the Library building. The Johnson Chapel, two dormitories, 
Williston Hall, and the Appleton Cabinet are in the cen- 
tre, upon the crest of the hill, and all face the west, being 
in a line with one another. The Barrett Gymnasium and 
one of the dormitories are upon an elevation east of the 
chapel row of buildings ; the Woods Cabinet and Lawrence 
Observatory are situated upon the crest of a hill west of the 
Chapel; while the President's house and the Library build- 
ing are situated upon the west side of the highway, directly 
south of the village church. This arrangement of the build- 
ings is in one sense accidental, since, when the plans were 
laid for the construction of the first buildings, no one imag- 
ined that other buildings than a chapel and four dormitories 
in a row would ever be needed. Moreover, the new build- 
ings have "been added from time to time, each one without 
anticipation of the succeeding ; so that there has been no 
general method in their arrangement. For certain reasons, 
however, this wide distribution of the buildings has been 
found very convenient. 

The best view of the College buildings, as a whole, is 
from a small hill (the Dome) more than a quarter of a mile 
southwest from the Chapel. From this eminence every 
building except the Gymnasium can be seen. Another 

2 



14 visitors' guide. 

good view of the buildings can be obtained from a point in 
the highway, a short distance west of the railway station- 
house. This brings the G-ymnasium into full view, while 
the Appleton Cabinet is hidden, and many of the other 
buildings are seen only from their rear. 



THE COLLEGE TOWER, 

Those who love a fine view of natural scenery, should 
not fail to visit the Tower attached to the Johnson Chapel ; 
or at least the smaller towers upon Williston Hall and the 
Library building. That from the chapel is the best, because 
the stand-point is the highest, being ninety-four feet above 
the top of the hill, and about three hundred feet above the 
ocean. The visitor will here learn how beautifully the Col- 
lege is situated, — upon a small eminence, in one of the love- 
liest valleys in New England, but environed by mountains. 
Upon the east are Mounts Lincoln, Hygeia, and Aquilo ; 
upon the north. Mounts Pleasant, Taurus, Mettawampe, and 
Sugar Loaf, whose curious outline and bright red color ren- 
der this aspect of the scenery exceedingly picturesque. To 
the nortiiwest, in the distance, may be seen Bald Mountain, 
Mount Pocumtock, the Hoosac Mountains, and the far-off 
Green Mountaiijs of Vermont. Upon the west appears 
Mount Warner ; and beyond the Connecticut river, set off 
by the beautiful serpentine water-line of that noble stream, 
lie the hiorh mountains of western Massachusetts. But the 
most noted mountains, and those which instantly arrest the 
attention, from their beautiful position and outlines, are 
the several peaks comprising the Holyoke range ; being 
in order, from east to west, Mount Norwottuck, Holyoke, 
Nonotuck, and Tom. The undulating valley vies in inter- 
est with the mountains, thickly interspersed as it is with 
forest, cleared land and meadow, set off by occasional ponds 
of water, and several villages. Ordinarily, the villages of 
Amherst, Hadley, Northampton, Easthampton, Whately, 
and Sunderland are visible from this summit. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 15 



THE LIBRARY BUILDING. 

As the visitor approaches the collepjes from the village, 
he first passes the Library building. This is built of gneiss 
from Pelham, and was erected in 1853, through funds given 
by friends of the College. The library is mostly in the 
second story, and contains twenty thousand volumes. Upon 
the first floor are the reading-rooms. In the passage-way 
may be seen a cannon which was captured from the rebels. 
in the battle near Newbern, on March 14, 1862. It was 
captured by the Twenty-first Massachusetts Regiment, 
Lieutenant-Colonel (Professor) Clark commanding. It was 
given to the regiment by General Burnside, and by the 
regiment presented to Amherst College. The names of the 
brave men killed upon that occasion are engraved upon the 
cannon. Among them was a member of college. Adjutant 
F. A. Stearns, son of the President. 

Passing up stairs, the room containing the books may be 
seen, and it is the only room in the building above the first 
story. The room is crowded with books, insomuch that 
more space is needed in which to display the books. Sev- 
eral portraits adorn the library-room : among them are 
the three first Presidents of the College, — Dr. Moore, Dr. 
Humphrey, and Dr. Hitchcock, — Hon. David Sears, Prof. 
Fiske, Prof Warner, Hon. Samuel WiUiston, and Galileo. 
From this room the passage to the tower is not difficult. 



WILLISTON HALL.' 

Leaving the Library we will pass to Williston Hall, the 
brick building north of the Johnson Chapel. Its three 
stories are devoted to different objects, and each story has 
a separate entrance. The upper story is the Alumni Hall, 
devoted to the annual examinations of all the classes, and 
to the meetings of the Alumni at commencements. In the 
second story are the halls of the Athenian and Alexandrian 
Societies, which contain the libraries belonging to the two 
orn-anizations, each numberim^ over five thousand volumes. 



16 VISITORS^ GUIDE, 

The whole of the lower story is devoted to a chemical lab- 
oratory, and has ample accommodations both for the aca- 
demical course of general chemistry, and for private 
instruction in analytical chemistry. It is divided into six 
apartments : the lecture -room, working-room for analysts, 
furnace-room, balance-room, and the Professors^ private 
laboratory. The College is indebted to the munificence of 
the Hon. Samuel Williston, of Easthampton, for this edi- 
fice, who so nobly came to the rescue of the College in its 
days of darkness and despondency^ 



THE GYMNASIUM. 

Passing through the " Grove,'^ the visitor will see an 
unpretending stone building with its name in front, " Bar- 
rett Gymnasium." Of late the interest of visitors has been 
largely absorbed by the novelty of the objects of this edi- 
fice and the department it typifies. The different kinds of 
apparatus, the bowling-alleys, dumbbells, swings, ladders, 
spirometers, etc., best explain themselves when used by 
some one of the classes in their regular exercise. At pres- 
ent visitors can be sure of witnessing an exercise upon four 
days of the week ; viz. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and 
Friday, both in the morning and afternoon. Visitors may 
test the power of their own muscles upon any of the appa- 
ratus, at any hour when there is no regular exercise. 

As this institution is a new one, and excites great interest 
among the friends of education, I will give here a notice 
of its operations, prepared from official documents in Novem- 
ber, 1861. 

VITAL STATISTICS OF THE STUDENTS AT AMHERST 
COLLEGE. 

The Gymnasium at Amherst College has now been in full 
operation more than a year, and the results on the health, 
and the consequent intellectual vigor of the students, have 
more than realized the anticipations of the friends of the 
enterprise. A committee of the Trustees, consisting of Dr. 



AMlfEllST COLLEGE. 17 

Allen of Lowell, Dr. Paine of Ilolden, and Dr. Alclen of 
Randolph, recently visited Amherst to observe the practical 
working of the physical department, and they expressed 
themselves very highly pleased with the good effects pro- 
duced in so short a time. During the past term, since 
Dr. Edward Hitchcock, Jr., has had the charge of this 
department, everything connected with the Gymnasium has 
been reduced to exact system, and a full and accurate rec- 
ord of the vital statistics of the students has been kept. 
The report for the term has just been made out, and it 
embraces many flicts which will be of the highest interest 
to all who are concerned in the subject of physical culture 
in our institutions of learning:. 

A physical examination is made of every student on 
entering college, similar to the examination of volunteers 
for the army, only not so thorough, the main object being 
to ascertain whether he has any imperfections so great as 
to impede his usefulness as a professional man. This ex- 
amination is repeated twice each year during the course, 
and the statistics are made out class by class and posted up 
in the gymnasium for constant reference, so that every stu- 
dent is at once able to compare himself with others, and 
ascertain whether or not he is keeping up to the average 
standard. Each student is required to spend half an hour 
in the gymnasium on four days of the week, and absence 
from this exercise, tardiness, and indecorum, are marked 
the same as at the intellectual exercises of the college. In 
addition to this half hour, about two thirds of the students 
spend as much more time in exercise every day in the 
week of their own accord. This compulsory exercise has 
been objected to by some, but experience shows that punc- 
tual attendance here is no more irksome than at any other 
of the college exercises. Moreover, it is the constant aim 
of the Professor in this department to have as great a vari- 
ety in the exercises as possible, so that not only shall every 
muscle be called into play, but also that fun may be added 
for the students, which is considered almost as necessary as 
exercise itself. The bowling alleys are the most constantly 
used of any of the means of exercise, and with the excep- 
tion of tl\e hours for meals and recitations, the balls are 
2* 



IS VISITORS GVlbE. 

constantly on the move» No betting is allowed, nor has 
there ever been a disposition to indulge in it. A military 
drill with muskets has also been a regular weekly exercise 
for the past term. This, however, has not been entered 
into with the alacrity which these war times would seem to' 
inspire^ and the other exercises of the gymnasium are deci- 
dedly preferred, because they are less monotonous. The 
students all wear a suitable uniform, of a material and make 
which is much better adapted to a free motion of the body 
than ordinary clothing. The uniform of each class is dif- 
ferent, and when the members of a class are all exercising 
together, the uniformity of dress is very pleasing. 

The design of the physical department, is not to make 
accomplished gymnasts and acrobats, but simply to secure 
to scholars an amount of exercise that shall tend to develop 
the physical man, in order that the intellectual man may 
more perfectly accomplish his purpose. And it has been 
found that, as a general rule, the best students intellectually 
are the best in the gymnasium. Accidents in the gymna- 
sium have thus far been few and far between. It appears 
by the health record kept by Dr. Hitchcock during the past 
term, in which are noted all absences for a longer period 
than two days on account of sickness, that the whole num- 
ber on the sick and injured list for the term was only seven, 
and only two of these were injured in the gymnasium, while 
these two were absent only four days each. One case only 
of typhoid fever has occurred, and this appeared on the 
first day of the term. This exemption from sickness, in a 
community embracing two hundred and fifty persons, is of 
itself a strong argument in favor of the physical training 
which has been adopted in this institution. The following 
is a tabular view of the vital statistics of the students in 
college, as ascertained by the last examination, and recorded 
by the professor of the physical department : 

Girth Girth Girth 

Age. Weight. Higlit. chest. arm. forearm. Average 

Years. Pounds. Feet. Inches. Inches. Indies, strength. 

Seniors 22.816 133.3.59 5.570 34.559 11.050 10.593 9.440 

Juniors 20.992 131.441 5.662 34.976 11.372 10.967 9.953 

Soph's 21.186 138.627 5.751 35.325 11.500 10.767 8.300 

Fresh. 20.022 126.946 5.563 33.946 10.860 10.666 6.760 

^^'•,^^^ j 21.261 132.643 5.636 34.701 11.147 10.750 8.613 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 19 

The oldest man in college is thirty-one years and four 
months old ; the youngest, fourteen years and ten months ; 
the heaviest man in college weighs one hundred and eighty- 
one pounds ; the lightest, eighty pounds ; the tallest man 
in college is six feet three and one half inches high ; the 
shortest, five feet high ; the number of years lived by all 
college is four thousand six hundred and sixty-three, and 
the weight of all college is twenty-nine thousand and six- 
teen pounds, or fourteen and one half tons. 



THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY. 

The Astronomical Observatory consists of two parts, the 
telescope towei* and the transit-room. The transit-room is 
on the right, after entering the outer door. It contains the 
transit circle and sidereal clock. These instruments are for 
observing the exact moment when the sun, or any star or 
other heavenly body, crosses the meridian, and also the alti- 
tude at the same moment. The transit circle is mounted 
on two stone piers, which stand on solid masonry beneath, 
and do not touch the building. The telescope attached to 
this circle can be turned so as to point to every part of the 
meridian from north to south ; and the walls and roof can 
be opened for this purpose. The clock is hung upon a sep- 
arate stone pier, and keeps sidereal time. Two small tele- 
scopes, of portable size, are usually kept in the same room. 

The large telescope is at the top of the tower, beneath 
the dome, and a spiral stair-case leads to it. The tube of 
this telescope is made of paper ; the object-glass is seven 
and one fourth inches in diameter, and the focal length of 
the instrument about nine feet. By the use of several dif- 
ferent eye-pieces, the magnifying power can be varied from 
fifty to five hundred in diameter. By opening the window, 
and revolving the dome on the iron balls, the telescope can 
be pointed to any part of the sky. A clock is let into the 
side of the stone pier, for the purpose of giving motion to 
the telescope, in order that it may keep up with the diurnal 
motion of the heavenly bodies. 



20 visitors' guide. 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

The principal part of this collection is in No. 3, Chapel 
building ; but as the articles have become too numerous to 
be accommodated conveniently in that room, a few addi- 
tional cases are erected in No. 7. 

If the visitor, on entering room No, 3, turns to the left, 
and goes to the east end of the room, he will find two cases 
filled with apparatus for illustrating the principles of Me- 
chanics. Beginning near the recitation-room door, and 
moving to the left, he will observe in the first case Atwood's 
machine, occupying the whole height of the case, used for 
illustrating the laws of falling bodies. The same case con- 
tains several models of the simple machines, — as pulleys, 
levers, weighing instruments, gearing, etc. In the second 
case are articles for experimenting on the collision of balls, 
the centre of gravity, compound motion, and friction ; also 
models of machines, such as the capstan, tread-wheel, crane, 
etc. 

Still moving to the left, the two cases on the north side, 
between the corner and the door of entrance, contain most 
of the apparatus for Pneumatics. In the first is a large air- 
pump, and a variety of small articles in brass and glass for 
pneumatic ex^eFiments. The narrow case by the door con- 
tains the air-condenser, barometers, and articles for air- 
pump experiments. 

Passing the door, the visitor finds two cases, a narrow 
and a wide one, in which the Hydrostatic apparatus is kept. 
In the narrow case he will observe models of water-pumps, 
syphons, and apparatus for making fountains, and for ex- 
perimenting on hydrostatic pressure. In the second and 
wide case are the hydrostatic balance (Masson's) and other 
instruments to illustrate water pressure, a hydraulic press, 
and models of the water ram, Barker's mill, Archimedes' 
screw, a fire-engine, and other instruments. 

Oil turning the corner, to the west end of the room, the 
two first cases are filled with apparatus for Optics. The 
first contains microscopes, perspective instruments, revolv- 
ing apparatus for vision, a magic lantern, and a frame and 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 21 

lenses for the extempore construction of telescopes. The 
second (or middle)- case has numerous optical articles, as con- 
vex and concave mirrors, and lenses ; also prisms, variously 
mounted, Biot's and Soleil's polariscope, instruments for 
experimenting on vision, the heliostat, etc. The third case 
is appropriated both to Optics and Acoustics. It contains a 
sonometer, bells, organ pipes, small organ bellows, and many 
other pieces for experimenting on sound. But the articles 
of chief interest in this case are the wave instruments, for 
illustrating water-waves, waves of sound, and waves of light, 
invented by Prof Snell. 

There is one other case, on the wall of the room, a wide 
one, situated between the windows. The articles in this 
are somewhat miscellaneous. There is a large sectional 
model of a steam-engine, a small working model in a glass 
case, and other articles for experiments on steam ; also 
apparatus for showing the laws of the pendulum, of rotary 
motion, etc. 

The double case in the centre of the room is occupied 
with the apparatus for Electricity and Magnetism. In the 
east end of it is the electrical machine, the plate of which 
is twenty -five inches in diameter. There is a battery of 
nine jars, another of three jars, and a great variety of single 
Leyden jars, for different experiments, beside a full assort- 
ment of other apparatus for illustrating the properties of 
electricity. The magnetical apparatus is at the west end of 
the case. 

WOODS CABINET AND LAWRENCE 
OBSERVATORY. 

Upon the hill west of the Chapel Row are the Woods 
Cabinet and Lawrence Observatory, in one general building. 
It is quite a relief to see on the hill one set of buildings 
different from the plain rectangular forms elsewhere on 
the grounds, some of which are erected in accordance with 
the Yankee order of architecture. 

The first suggestion that led to the erection of this build- 
ing, was the ofter of Professor Charles U. Shepard to de- 
posit his cabinet at Amherst College, provided a fire-proof 



22 visitors' guide. 

building could be built for its reception. This led to a vote 
of the Trustees, in August, 1846, for the* erection of such n 
building, provided the sum of five thousand dollars should 
be secured by subscription ; and the President, Hon.. David 
Mack, Hon. Samuel Williston, Deacon Andrew W. Porter, 
and Hon. Josiah B. Woods were appointed a Building- 
Committee : which gentlemen have had the oversight and 
direction of the work to its completion. The Trustees also 
appropriated to this object a fund left as a legacy to the Col- 
lege by Mr. Samuel Stone, of Townsend, which originally 
amounted to five hundred dollars, and which was specifi- 
cally directed to be applied to the erection of new buildings. 

In the winter of 1846-7, the architect (Mr. Henry A. 
Sykes, of Springfield) drew a plan of the building ; but it 
was not till the next summer that any efiicient movement 
was made to procure funds. Hon. Josiah B. Woods then 
undertook the work, and it was mainly by his judicious and 
persevering efforts that the requisite sum was procured. 

The following list contains the names of all the subscrib- 
ers to the building, with the amount contributed, save a' 
few days' work, each by several of the citizens of Amherst, 
in preparing the ground. These names are engraved upon 
a marble slab in the vestibule ; 

Hon. Abbot Lawrence, Boston, . $1,000 

Samuel Stone, Esq., Townsend, 920 

Hon. Josiah B. Woods, Enfield, 400 

John Tappan, Esq., Boston, 300 

Andrew W. Porter, Esq., Monson, ...... 300 

R. P. Waters, Esq., Salem, 300 

Hon. John Dickinson, Amherst, 2.')0 

James T. Ames, Esq., Cabotville, 2-50 

Justin Ely, Esq., West Sprino-fi eld, . • .... 200 

Thomas IBond, Esq., Sprino;field, 200 

Dea. Ichabod Washburn, Worcester, . . . . . . 200 

Hon. Daniel Safford, Boston, 200 

Samuel Lawrence, Esq., Lowell, . . . " . . . . 200 

Wells Southworth, Esq., West Springfield, 200 

O. M. Whipple, Esq., Lowell, 200 

C. B. BigeloAV, Esq., Lowell, 200 

Hon, Samuel Williston, Easthampton, 200 

Hon. Alexander De Witt, Oxford, 200 

Samuel A. Hitchcock, Esq., Brimfield, 200 

George H. Gilbert, Esq., Ware, _ 200 

Enos Dickinson, Esq., Amherst, . . . . . . . 200 

Luke Swectser, Esq., Amherst, 200 



AMHERST COLLEGl!]. 



At) 



Phelps, Dodge & Co., New York City, 

Henry A. Sykes, Springfield, . 

George Gill, New Haven, . . . ♦ 

William W. Stone, Esq., Boston, . 

Hon. Joseph Avery, Conway, 

Professor Charles LT. Shepard, New Haven, 

Joseph Walker, New York City, . 

Robert Cutler, Amherst, .... 

William B. Godfrey, Amherst, . 

William C. Anderson, Esq., New York City, 

Alfred Edwards, Esq., New York City, 

Gerard Hallock, Esq., New York City, . 

Rev- Samuel Worcester, D.D., Salem, 

Professor Aaron Warner, Amherst, 

Hon. Edward Dickinson, Amherst, 

William Dickinson, Esq., Worcester, 

Hon. John Leland, Amherst, 

J. S. & C. Adams, Amherst, 

Thomas Jones, Esq., Amherst, 

Leonard M. Hills, Esq., Amherst, . 

William Kellogg, Amherst, 

Rev. John Sanford, Amherst, . 



$200 

. 150 

150 

. 100 

100 

. 100 

100 

. 100 

100 

. 100 

50 

. 50 

50 

. 50 

50 

. 50 

50 

. 50 

50 

. 25 

25 

. 17 



The total cost of the Cabinet and Observatory was nine 
thousand dollars. The money was all subscribed before a 
finger was lifted towards the construction of the walls. The 
Geological Lecture-Room and the Nineveh Gallery were 
added subsequently, the first in 1855 and the last in 1857. 
The lower cabinet is called the Woods Cabinet, in honor 
of Hon. J. B. Woods, of Enfield, Mass., whose generous 
efforts in procuring funds for the erection of the building, 
entitle him to the gratitude of the public. The Shepard 
Cabinet derives its name from Professor C. U. Shepard, 
who owns everything exhibited in it. The Lawrence Ob- 
servatory receives its name from the late lamented Abbot 
Lawrence, of Boston, whose name heads the subscription 
list. The Dickhison Nineveh Gallery receives its name 
from Enos Dickinson, Esq., of South Amherst, who liber- 
ally supplied the means for its erection. 

Outside of the building are several large specimens illus- 
trative of geological phenomena. The most striking is a 
large boulder, having inscribed upon it " Class of 1857." 
It is covered with scratches upon four of its six sides, and 
the strire are nearly all parallel to each other. Two of its 
sides, the one upon which is the inscription, and its opposite, 
are not striated. The boulder must have been crowded 



24 VlSiTOKS^ GUIDE. 

by an iceberg, and moved along some distance beneath it, 
in order to have produced these marks. It was dug up 
in the road near the residence of Hon. Edward Dickinson. 
The class of 1857 had it transported to its present posi- 
tion, and delivered an oration and poem over it when it 
reached its resting-place. Dr. Stearns made some remarks 
about this removal which we will present here, as charac- 
teristic of both the persons alluded to, the speaker, and the 
one spoken of. The remarks were made in the presence 
of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence, at their visit to the Cabinet in 1859 : — 

" To the energy and perseverance of Dr. Hitchcock they 
were indebted for that boulder at the door. (Applause.) 
He (Dr. H.) had known of its existence time out of mind. 
He says it came down from Pelham, years ago, when time 
was young, (Renewed laughter,) before Pelham existed 
in the divine decrees. He got hold of it, and then the 
elements began to move. One rainy day, when the 
President was out of town, he and the boys took it into 
their heads to have a play-day ; accordingly, thirty- two 
oxen yoked themselves up, the trees broke themselves 
down, the dogs barked, the students shouted, the little boys 
entailed themselves upon the crowd, sixty-four students 
became sons of Erin, the boulder turned itself over and 
came up the hill, turned itself over once more at the col- 
lege door, and established itself as curator to the cabinets 
for all coming time. It had been a long time on its way 
from Pelham, and had had some hard rubs and many 
scratches, which had not healed to this day. Some of the 
students, forgetful of reverence, had therefore misnamed it 
the " old scratch." (Loud laughter.) But he could bear 
testimony, nevertheless, that it had done its duty as a valued 
teacher. He was amazed when he saw it upon its return, 
and he asked himself, What next will Dr. Hitchcock do ? 
When he woke up in the morning, Mount Holyoke or 
Mount Tom might be standing at the college door ! " 

Near the Nineveh Gallery is a large block of stone, filled 
with several bodies made up of concentric rings, and are 
apparently remains of zoophytes, of the genus Stromato- 
pora, a variety of ancient corals. It is from the Lower 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 25 

Silurian Limestone, near Saratoga, N. Y. Another boulder 
has a small trap-dike cutting through it, and looks upon the 
outside like a ribbon stretched around the stone, though inr 
terrupted. It is from Pelham. Near it are two large spec- 
imens of gray silicious limestone, from Colerain, Mass., in 
which are exceedingly beautiful tortuous veins of white 
granite. Other specimens about the door, are, two large 
columns of green stone from Mount Tom ; two potholes ; a 
large fucoid from Glreentield; trap-dikes from Pelham; 
boulders striated by a plough, and marked by worms, to 
show the difference between these markings and the stria3 
of drift, as may be seen upon the large boukler ; and speci- 
mens of conglomerated syenite from Northampton. The 
latter specimens illustrate the theory of the metamorphism 
of rocks, showing that portions of a coarse conglomerate 
may be changed to syenite before the obliteration of the 
sedimentary character of the rock. 

Within the vestibule of the building are several interest- 
ing specimens. Upon the left wall are polished specimens 
of the beautiful verde-antique serpentine from Roxbury, 
Vt., presented by the class of 1859, and of the " Winooski 
marble," or dolomitic marble of the Potsdam group, from 
Colchester, Yt. Other specimens of the Roxbury and Cav- 
endish serpentine are upon the opposite side of the vesti- 
bule. The other specimens here are two large trunks of ■ 
fossil trees from Portland, Ct., taken from the Connecticut 
river sandstone. 

THE WOODS GEOLOGICAL CABINET. 

A large part of the specimens in this Cabinet are ar- 
ranged in cases standing against the walls. We will sup- 
pose the visitor, on entering the room, to turn to the left, 
when he will meet the following collections, as he passes 
around the Cabinet, arranged in the wall cases ; and we 
advise him to examine these first, around the whole room, 
before he turns his attention to the collections in the central 
parts of it. 

3 



26 visitors' guide. 

I. THE ROCKS OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE. 

The first collection on the left-hand side of the door, 
beneath the gallery, consists of six hundred specimens of 
rocks and petrifactions, exhibiting the entire series of rock 
formations on the Continent of Europe, particularly of Ger- 
many, and arranged according to the system of Professor 
Von Leonhard, a distinguished geologist. The specimens 
are usually three inches by four, and behind them are sus- 
pended printed labels in three languages, viz. the German, 
French, and English. The fossils amount to about one 
third of the whole, and are those most characteristic of the 
several formations. Several of the rocks, fully represented 
in this collection, do not occur in this country, at least not 
with the same characters, — for instance, the Chalky Oolite, 
Lias, etc., — and hence they are studied in this collection to 
much advantage. 

The visitor conversant with the rocks of the Connecticut 
valley, will be struck with the resemblance between them 
and many specimens of the Red Sandstone Group in this 
collection. The impression of fossil fishes (No. 319) can 
indeed scarcely be distinguished from those found at Sun- 
derland, Cabotville, and South Hadley canal. 

It would amuse the literary man to observe some of the 
translations from the German and French into English, 
which a part of the labels exhibit. For instance. No. 172, 
is sand ; and No. 173 has this : '^Sand of the Brown Goal 
Formation. It appears likewise-how that of the preceding 
nummer." 

Beneath the windows in the Cabinet, are placed such 
large specimens as could not be got into the glazed cases. 
In the first window may be seen a curious specimen from 
the river Nazareth, in Western Africa, sent by Rev. Wil- 
liam Walker, of the Gaboon Mission. It is mounted 
upon pivots, so that by rotation all sides of the specimen 
may be readily seen. It probably has a concretionary or 
geodic structure, to discover which would require the des- 
truction of the specimen. This, with a few other smaller 
specimens, were the only stones seen over the whole of a 
plain three hundred miles in diameter. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 27 



II. THE MISSIONARY COLLECTION, CHIEFLY FROM ASIA. 

Beyond the first window the rocks of Continental Europe 
occupy most of the first tier of cases. They are followed 
by a few tertiary fossil from the Paris Basin. They were 
presented by Mons. E. Desor. Two hundred and twenty- 
four species of molluscs are represented from this basin, 
which is classic ground for the geologist. 

Immediately following them, the visitor will find a 'col- 
lection of more than twelve hundred specimens, sent mostly 
by American missionaries. The following are the names 
of the missionaries who have gratuitously furnished these 
specimens : — 

Rev. Justin Perkins, D.D., at Oroomiah, Persia. 
Story Hebard, at Beiroot, Syria. 
Benjamin Schneider, at Broosa, Asia Minor. 
Pliny Fisk, Palestine. 
Oliver P. Powers, at Broosa, Asia Minor. 
O. P. Allen, at Broosa, Asia Minor. 
Plenry Holmes, at Constantinople. 
Cyrus Hamlin, at Constantinople. 
Henry J. Van Lennep, at Constantinople and Tocat. 
J. J. Robertson, D.D., at Constantinople and Athens. 
James L. Merrick, at Tabreez, Persia. 
George E. Whiting, at Abeih, Mount Lebanon. 
Daniel Bliss, at Mount Lebanon. 
Joel S. Everett, at Smyrna, Asia Minor. 
Daniel Poor, at Ceylon. 
Nathan Ward, M.D., at Ceylon. 
Rev. Elijah C. Bridgman, D.D., at Canton, China. 
Henry Lyman, at Sumatra. 
Ebenezer Burgess, at Ahmednuggar, India. 
Joseph Goodrich, at Sandwich Islands. 
Ephraim Spaulding, at Sandwich Islands. 
Alonzo Chapin, M.D., at Sandwich Islands. 
Mr. Alexander G. Paspati, at Constantinople. 
Mr. Hornan Hallock, at Malta and Smyrna. 
Mrs. Susan Champion, at Cape' of Good Hope. 
Rev. H. P. Herrick, at Western Africa. 
The following gentlemen, having obtained specimens from 



28 visitors' guide. 

the same region as the missionaries, have presented them to 
the College, and they are included in this collection : — 

Professor Edward Robinson, D.D., in Palestine. 

Professor Sylvester Hovey, in Italy. 

Professor ISTathan W. Fiske, in Greece, Syria, and Pal- 
estine. 

Professor J. A. Pichards, in Egypt. 

When we consider the feeble health of Professor Fiske, 
and how entirely his previous habits seemed to unfit him 
for the work, it is surprising what large and valuable addi- 
tions he has made to the cabinet : not less than two hun- 
dred specimens. 

It increases the interest in this collection to know that 
two thirds of the above-named gentlemen were graduates 
of Amherst College. And the value of the collection is 
enhanced, when we consider the difficulty and danger often, 
of procuring specimens in barbarous and unfrequented re- 
gions, where travelling must be performed on horseback, 
and where every movement of a stranger is watched Avitli 
great jealousy. The picking up and carrying away speci- 
mens of the ore of arsenic, exhibited by No. 985, from the 
mountains of Kurdistan, is said to have been a principal 
cause of the assissination of the traveller Schulz. In one 
instance, Dr. Perkins brought on a fever by his efforts to 
obtain specimens from the top of one of the peaks of the 
Ararat range ; and when other means of packing speci- 
mens failed, on a journey upon horseback of seven hundred 
miles, he used one or two pairs of pantaloons and other 
parts of his wardrobe for the purpose ; and they came hither 
thus freighted. What a pity that they were not preserved 
unemptied, and hung up as a trophy and a memento ! 

The collection under consideration is arranged geograph- 
ically ; that is, by countries. The following countries 
are represented by the number of specimens attached to 

eacn : Specimens. 

Italy, .88 

Malta, . . . . , . 19 

Greece, . . . . . . . 11 

Grecian Archipelago, . . . . 125 

■ Northern Asia Minor and Turkey in Europe, 250 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 29 



Syria and Palestine, 



400 
50 

136 
58 
70 
27 
10 
60 
7 
26 
9 



Egypt, 

Armenia, 

Persia, 

India, 

Ceylon, 

Cape of Good Hope, 

Western Africa, . 

China, 

Sandwich Islands, 

Java, ... 
In the Missionary Collection, probably a large part of the 
specimens will interest most from the sacred or classiciil 
localities where they were obtained ; yet, as a whole, they 
do give important knowledge of the rocks. In the coun- 
tries around the Mediterranean, for instance, we find abun- 
dant evidence that the prevailing rock is limestone, either 
soft or chalky, or hard and compact. A great number of 
specimens might be referred to, to illustrate this statement. 
Nos. 87, 88, 92, and 520, are chalky limestone, the 
common rock of Malta. 
(Nos. 152, 153, 154, Mars Hill, Athens, Greece. 
No. 89, Malta : the specimen having an acute point. On 
the label Mr. Hallock has written, in sportive allusion to 
the rage among Papists for relics : *' The very 'point against 
which St. Paul was.wrecked!" 

The following are from Syria and Palestine : — 
No. 552, west side of Anti-Lebanon ; No, 454, Beyroot ; 
No. 588, Damascus ; No. 592, from the Inn of the Good 
Samaritan ; No. 595, Mount of Olives ; No. 760, from the 
Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. All these are made up 
mainly of microscopic shells, called Poly thalamia. No. 1213, 
Gibeon. 

Nos. 557 and 571, from one of the stones in the founda- 
tion of Solomon's Temple, known from the peculiar style 
in which it is wrought ; No. 1200, Gethsemane ; No. 1214, 
Mount Carmel; No. 1226, from the Tomb of Zachariah ; 
No. 1241, Gibeon ; No. 763, from the Protestant Burying- 
Ground on Mount Zion ; No. 767, from the spot where 
Siloa's font first gushes up, and flows away in a subterra- 
3* 



30 . TISITOHS^ GUIDE. 

nean cliannel ; No. 768, probably the rock on which the 
Palaee of David was built, on Mount Zion ; No. 770, Mount 
Zion,. over against Hinnom ; No. 774, from a rock in the 
Mosque of Omar, which stands upon the site of the Jewish 
Temple. 

Sometimes this compact limestone is red, or striped, as in 
the following examples : No. 556, Anti-Lebanon ; No. 559, 
Abraham's Tomb, Hebron ; Nos. 572 and 764, Jerusalem ; 
Nos. 772 and 773 (striped, red), Jerusalem; No. 775, Mt. 
of Olives. 

The preceding numbers exhibit the predominant rocks of 
Syria and Palestine, extending also into Egypt. Other 
interesting rocks, however, occur in connection with the 
chalky and compact limestones. Nos. 638 to 647, show va- 
rious ferruginous sandstones from Mount Lebanon ; No. 623 
is a limestone pebble from the Jordan where Christ was 
baptized ; No. 584 is granular limestone, from Aceldama ; 
Nos. 566, 569, 570, show a very peculiar black bituminous 
limestone, containing twenty-five per cent, of bitumen, from 
the west shore, of the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee : it 
is wrought into various useful and ornamental articles. 

No. 616 is a coarse, porous limestone, with petrified shells 
from Beyroot, obtained by Professor Fiske from the yard 
of a Moslem, where it was brought for building. The label 
accompanying it is too curious to be withheld : — 

"The noise of breaking this, specimen," says he, "as I 
was but a few feet from the door of the house, brought out 
an old woman, in a filthy Arab dress. She drew her man- 
dil (mantle) down over her forehead, holding it with her left 
hand under her chin, leaving her right hand free for ges- 
tures, and her lips at liberty for speech, and with a little 
fierce-looking black eye, and sallow, shriveled face, she 
came at me with a tremendous volley of Arabic, in a shrill 
screech, frightful enough to make one's hair stand on end. 
Not a single word could I understand ; only I used my 
Yankee faculty of guessing that she was scolding the impu- 
dent and thieving Frank, and that if I did not somehow 
silence her noise the whole neighborhood would be roused, 
and what woes might then betide me not even a Yankee 
could guess. I had no Arabic to explain, or apologize, or 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 31 

entreat ; but for my good luck, I had that very morning 
learned Arabic enough to say, SJioo-hi-dah, what is that ? 
and this was the whole length and breadth of my vocabu- 
lary. So I put my right hand, first on my breast, then to 
my forehead (the Arabic mode of salutation), and with a 
smile and tone as gracious as I could make, held out my 
specimen, and pointing to one of the little shells in it, said, 
' Shoo-hi-dah ? Shoo-hi-dah ? ' She raised her eyebrows, 
relaxed a little her grasp of the mandil, and looked at the 
shell, and cried, Allah, Allah, hi-dah hwah. O God, God, 
that is bwaJc 1 then resumed her furious scolding and yelling. 
I carefully laid down the stone on a block, and picking up 
a little pebble, held it out and said, Shoo-hi-dah, etc., etc., 
and thus finally calmed her down, and made my escape. 
Had I known Katyr, Khyr ok, I certainly should have 
closed with it. 

" A day or two after, I walked through the same yard, 
and found my specimen lying where I laid it down, and I 
then quietly put it in my pocket." Feh. 1, 1847. 

Most of the limestones of Syria and Palestine have been 
referred by geologists to the chalk formation ; and as we 
should expect, we find flint in it, as No. 654, from Anti- 
Lebanon ; No. 656, Mount of Olives; No. 657, Mount 
Carmel ; No. 1231, Mount Scopes (Mount of Olives con- 
tinued) ; Nos. 1228, 1229, 1230, Beyroot. This flint and 
hornstone often form fine agates, as Nos. 1323, 1324, from 
Lebanon ; No. 661, near Tyre ; No. 655, from Gethse- 
mane. No. 662 is a large geode of chalcedony from Safed; 
and Nos. 663, 664, are beautiful geodes of crystalized 
quartz, which are very abundant at Babda on Mount 
Lebanon, from the size of a hen's <igg to that of a man's 
head. 

Mount Lebanon abounds with petrifactions ; and by the 
efforts of Mr. Hebard and Professor Fiske, who have sent 
mo.>t of the specimens from Syria and Palestine, our col- 
lection is rich in these relics of ancient animals. All the 
specimens from No. 665 to 719, and from No. 1265 to 1322, 
amounting to 109, are of this description ; embracing fish, 
echlnoderms, molluscs (shells), encrinites, corals, and a few 
plants. Nos. 1278 a.nd 1279, are aggregated remains of 



32 visitors' guide. 

the Hippurite, a very peculiar shell, no longer existing 
alive, yet abundant in the waters that deposited Mount Leb- 
anon. No. 1279 is nearly a foot in diameter, made up of 
these same shells, converted into quartz. Among other sorts 
of shells, we find the Ostrea (Nos. 686, 657, and 1269 to 
1271, from Aleck, 4000 feet above the sea), Isocardia, Ve- 
nus, Area, Ammonites, Strombus, etc. No. 1310, Pycno- 
dus, a genus of fishes. 

In a letter from Professor Fiske, after putting up a box 
of these fossils, we find the following amusing remarks : — 

" In this trip (from Beyroot to Abeih and Bhamdun) I 
have gathered oysters and clams, and I cannot tell what 
other fish, cooked (you perhaps know when) in old Pluto's 
or Vulcan's kitchen, pickled down (or rather up, for I found 
some of them on summits thousands of feet high) and pre- 
served by the help of Neptune, and for aught I know the 
mermaids too ; for all which, the geologists will thank them ; 
more grateful, I imagine, than the poor donkeys, whose bur- 
dens are often increased by not a few pounds, weight of 
these ante-mundane delicacies. At Abeih, I boxed for you 
what a Carolinian would call a ' mighty big ' lump, weighing 
less than a ton. It will doubtless prove a Jactalite (a rock 
to be thrown away) should it ever reach you. All I shall 
ask of you, provided it thus terminate, is, that you will 
bestow on the innocent fishes a decent burial beneath the 
turf." 

Although all marble is limestone, and the compact lime- 
stone above referred to seems to have been employed for 
common buildings in Jerusalem, and other parts of Syria 
and Palestine, yet the marbles employed for public struc- 
tures are of a different character, and were brought from 
abroad. A large number of these, from interesting locali- 
ties, are in this collection. They are mostly granular, white, 
or gray; resembling, in fact, very closely,the marbles found 
in the western part of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
and from the same range extending southwesterly through 
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The 
following specimens will afford the visitor good samples. 

Nos. 14, 15, 16, Antiques, Italy ; No. 107, froni the Col- 
osseum, Pome ; No. 155, Temple of Victory, Athens ; No. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 3 



Q 



156, Acropolis, Athens; No. 1G4, Minerva Polias Carya- 
tides, Athens ; Nos. 151, 160, 161, from the Propylea, 
Athens; No. 159, Parthenon, Athens ; No. 281, Temple of 
Juno, Samos; Nos^. 284,350, and 351, Temple of Apollo, Cni- 
dus ; No. 357, Colossae ; No. 359, Theatre of Ephesus ; No, 
364, Thyatira; No. 451, Jewish Cemetery, Smyrna; No. 
452, Amphitheatre at Smyrna, where Poiycarp suffered 
martyrdom ; No. 455, Temple of Esculapius, Smyrna ; No. 
463, Gate of ancient Nice ; No. 498, Pavement of ancient 
Carthage ; Nos. 604 and 605, Temple of the Sun, Baalbec; 
No. 603, Tombs of the Kings, Jerusalem ; No. 606, Church 
of St. Johns, Samaria; No. 609, red, Baalbec ; No. 742, 
Mount Moriah, Jerusalem; Nos. 743, 744, 745, Mount 
Zioa ; Nos. 746, 747, Mount Zion, near the tomb of David; 
Nos. 748 to 756, Jerusalem; No. 757, Mount Ophel, the 
highest part of Mount Zion ; No. 759, Valley of Jehosa- 
phat; No. 760, a triangular piece, — worked out probably 
by some one waiting for the moving of the waters, — fished 
up from the Pool of Siloam ; No. 761, Tower of Ramleh, 
Jerusalem ; Nos. 998, 989, argillaceous, from the ruins 
of Persepolis, Persia, wrought so as to look like petrified 
shells. 

One notices with melancholy interest the numerous speci- 
mens in this collection from Mouiit Zion, when it is known 
that they were collected by Professor Fiske, only three or 
four weeks before he Avas himself laid there, in the Protes- 
tant burying-ground, near the Tomb of David. 

The ancients were in the habit of breaking up the com- 
pact limestones above described, into little square pieces of 
different colors, and arranging them, and bedding them in 
mortar, so as to form pavements or floors. Several exam- 
ples of this kind occur in this collection, along with examples 
of their stucco and plaster, which have resisted decompos- 
ing agencies for thousands of years, and which, therefore, 
are interesting to the geologist, as well as the builder. 

]^o. 65, sMcco from a column of a temple in Pompeii ; 
No. 65, plaster from the interior of a house in Pompeii ; 
Nos. 67 and 502, mosaic, Baio3, Italy; Nos. 368, 369, mo- 
saic, Island of Delos ; No. 496, mosaic, near Smyrna; Nos. 
501 and 637, mosaic, Beyroot ; No. 503, mosaic, pavement 



34 visitors' guide. 

of ancient Carthage ; No. 630, Roman cement, from a cis- 
tern, Beyroot ; No. 632, Roman cement, ruins of Citium; 
No. 867, mosaic, from a church in Trebizond ; No. 990, 
mortar glazed, ruins of a Mosque, Tabree'z ; No. 1117, plas- 
ter, from the summit of the Tower of the great heathen 
temple in Madura, India ; " struck by lightning," says the 
missionary, at the time the missionaries arrived, — an ex- 
pression, it is said, of the displeasure of the goddess ; No. 
1118, mortar from an old fort in the district of Jaffna, Cey- 
lon ; No. 1166, cement from the top of the pyramid of 
Gizeh in Egypt. 

From No. 162 to 247, are numerous fossil shells of the 
Tertiary strata, sent by Mr. Van Lennep, from the Island 
of Rhodes. The seventy-eight specimens, from No. 372 to 
450, are from Mount Olympus, near Broosa, sent by Mr. 
Schneider, and they are almost the only ones in the collec- 
tion that correspond at all to the rocks of New England, 
containing granular limestone, calcite, tufa, gneiss, horn- 
blende slate, mica slate, granite, epidote, garnet, etc. Nos. 
801 to 936, sent by Dr. Perkins, exhibit a full suite of the 
rocks of ancient Armenia, from Trebizond to Ooroomiali in 
Persia. A large proportion are limestones, like those in 
Syria and Palestine, of a dirty yellow color. No. 857, from 
the western branch of the Euphrates, is beautiful white ala- 
baster, used in Armenia for mortar, but might be wrought 
into ornaments, as it is in Italy. No. 939 is an equally fine 
example from the plain of Ooroomiah, mountain of Bizov, 
where it is abundant. No. 785 is a similar alabaster, used 
for building the Pasha's palace in Egypt. Nos. 944 to 954 
show the rocks at Mount Seir, the health retreat of the mis- 
sionaries, near Ooroomiah. No. 955, marble from the mon- 
ument on the grave of Mrs. Dr. Grant, Ooroomiah. Nos. 
978 and 979 show the famous Tabreez marble, or alabas- 
ter, deposited by hot springs, and semi-transparent ; very 
few examples of such deposits occur. 

The vast regions from which the specimens above referred 
to have been derived, exhibit, in some parts, evidence of 
volcanic agency, so that lava is not unfrequently met Avith. 
Unstratified rocks, indeed, of every age, — that is, such as 
have been some time or other melted, — occur. The fol- 
lowing are examples : — 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 85 

Nos. 19 to 64 exhibit a full collection of lavas from Italy, 
especially Vesuvius ; Nos. 370, 507, and 484, from the fa- 
mous Katakekaumena, or Burnt District of Asia Minor, not 
far from Philadelphia ; Nos. 477, 478, 479, 487, 488, 489, 
trachyte, Smyrna ; Nos. 726, 729, lava, west shore of the 
Dead Sea ; No. 725, lava, ruins of Jericho ; No, 738, lava, 
from an ancient crater near Safed ; Nos. 734, 740, lava, 
west side of the Sea of Tiberias ; Nos. 731, 739, trap, 
Anti-Lebanon ; No. 788, famous red granite, or syenite, 
from Syene in Upper Egypt; No. 1173, syenite, taken from 
Cleopatra's Needle, Egypt ; Nos. 786, 787, antique red 
porphyry, ruins of Alexandria, Egypt; Nos. 1262, 1263, 
lava. Mount Ophel (Mount Zion), not native there ; Nos. 
868, 869, 874, lava, from Mount Ararat ; No. 875, obsi- 
dian, Armenia. 

Nos. 1016 to 1082 show a fine collection of trap rocks 
(similar to those of Mount Holyoke), with several rich min- 
erals, such as chalcedony, amethyst, thompsonite, apophyl- 
lite, etc., from near Ahmednugger in India, sent by Rev. 
E. Burgess. 

Nos. 1141 to 1165 show a good collection of lavas from 
the Sandwich Islands, mainly from the great volcano of 
Kilauea. No. 1155 is volcanic glass, called by the natives 
Pele's Hair ; Pele being the goddess of the volcano. 

No. 970 is beautiful rock salt, dug from Red Mountain, 
near Tabreez ; Nos. 847 and 863, the same, from Armenia ; 
No. 794, the same, from Mount Sinai, where the Israelites 
turned to encamp by the Red Sea ; No. 548 is rock salt, 
from a hill several miles long, of the same substance, on the 
southwest shore of the Dead Sea, near the site of ancient 
Sodom. 

No. 795 is pure yellow sand, from the deserts of Arabia, 
collected by a Mohammedan pilgrim, on his way from Per- 
sia to Mecca, from the moving sand hills of that country. 

No. 722, water of the river Jordan ; No. 723, water of 
the Pool of Siloam ; No. 724, water of the Dead Sea; 
Nos. 859, 860, water from mineral springs near Trebizond; 
No. 992, water from Lake Ooroomiah ; Nos. 9^93, 994, 
water from the Caspian Sea. 



36 ViSMORS^ GUIDE. 



UNITED STATES COLLECTION* 

To the right of the entrance to the Nineveh Gallery com- 
mences a collection of the rocks and fossils of the United 
States, excepting those States represented largely in sepa- 
rate collections. At the time of the preparation of this 
" Guide Book," the specimens belonging here have not been 
arranged fully, or even catalogued. About two thousand 
have been catalogued, and a few particulars can be given 
of them, while the rest must be noticed in very general 
terms. This collection is not owned by the College, but is 
deposited by Professor E. Hitchcock, Sen., and the Curator. 

It is prefaced by twenty-seven specimens of the simple 
minerals constituting rocks, forming the alphabet of Geol- 
ogy. From twenty-seven to ninety-nine, represent Allu- 
vium; among which is a tooth, found in Amherst (No. 42), 
of the fossil horse, much larger than the present species, 
that once lived in this country, a contemporary of the Mas- 
todon. No. 60 is a tooth of the mastodon from Ohio. No. 
59 is a part of the contents of the stomach of the great 
mastodon found in Newburg, in 1845 ; and No. 58, a por- 
tion of one of his tusks. On the table in front of the case, 
is the remnant of one of these tusks several feet long; in a 
glazed case, and standing upright, are wooden models of 
both the tusks of the largest mastodon ever found. No. 
63 is a cast of a fossil elephant's tooth (the mammoth) 
found in Homer, New York. 

Nos. 100 to 173 are Drift. Among them are very fine 
specimens of grooves and strise, produced by the drift agency. 
Some of these, lying upon one of the tables in the room, 
are two or three feet across ; from the shores of Lake Cham- 
plain, from South Hadley, Greenfield, Rochester, N. Y., 
and Fall River, Mass. In the case are specimens from 
Christiana in Norway (Nos. 163 to 165), from Copenhagen 
(No. 156), and from the Alps (Nos. 167 to 173) ; some of 
them were produced by glaciers, and the whole collection 
is unusually instructive ; nor do I know of a similar one. 

From No. 201 to 381 we have rocks and fossils of the 
Tertiary strata. Nos. 225 to 360 are fossil shells, etc., 
mostly from the Southern States. Among these specimens, 



AMHERST COLLEaE, 37 

may be seen (No. 329) the vertebra of a small whale ; 
the cast of the head of a fossil porpoise (No. 359) ; do. 
of the humerus, or arm-bone of the huge Oryctotheriiim 
from Oregon (No. 360) ; No. 326 is an enormous shark's 
tooth, five inches long and four inches broad, which must 
have belonged to an animal not improbably from fifty to 
one hundred feet long! Such were the sharks that lived 
in the Tertiary period. 

Tlie Cretaceous formation is represented by only a few 
specimens. But tlie Oolitic Coal Formation of eastern 
Virginia exhibits eighty specimens (Nos. 440 to 521), from 
a shaft seven hundred and seventy-five feet deep, at the 
Mid Lothian pit, near Richmond, presented by Major A. 
S. Woldridi^e. From No. 562 to 565 is exhibited the Red 
Indian pipestone, from the Coteaux des Prairies, in the 
Sioux country, which rock is regarded with superstitious 
reverence by the natives. 

The Carboniferous system, or true coal formation of the 
United States, covering in all over two hundred thousand 
square miles, or nearly thirty times the size of Massachu- 
setts, is represented by Nos. 655 to 806. A large part are 
the vegetable impressions peculiar to this formation. The 
Bristol county coal-field, of Massachusetts, is represented 
here ; and specimens of the coal, of a superior quality, may 
be seen in Nos. 801 and 802, also the Worcester anthracite, 
Nos. 804_, 805. 

The Silurian system of the U. S. is exhibited by nearly 
five hundred specimens, most of which are petrifactions. 

It is not necessary to spend time to describe, in this brief 
account, the non-fossiliferous rocks of this collection, which 
must be studied in detail in order to pi'ofit by them. The 
clay slate is represented by Nos. 1417 to 1463. A full 
suite of the gold formation in North Carolina, is sliown 
from Nos. 1497 to 1526. No. 1519 is a fine example of the 
Itacolumite, or flexible sandstone, which contains the dia- 
mond in South America, as well as in North Carolina. 

The specimens in the gallery over these cases belong to 
the United States Collection, except a few claystone con- 
cretions which are connected with the Vermont Collection. 
They are mostly litliological specimens. To this collec- 
4 



38 visitors' guide. 

tion belong also the specimens upon the north raid south 
sides of the upright cases in the middle of the room. 
Upon the north side thej consist of a large number of fos- 
sil fishes from the Connecticut river sandstone, and a series 
of fossils from New York. Upon the south side of the 
south case are specimens from all parts of the country, 
largely from Virginia and the Territories. 

To this collection properly belong two horizontal cases 
of coal plants near the entrance, both upon the left and 
right hand side. Those upon the right are mostly from 
Pennsylvania, while those upon the left are mostly from 
the New England coal basin. Other large specimens of 
fossils (coal plants chiefly) are attached to the ends of the 
central upright cases. A large horizontal case at the 
west side of the room, contains fossil plants from the Con- 
necticut river sandstone. Conspicuous among them is the 
Clathropteris rectiusculus from Mount Tom. The finest 
specimen of this fern, however, lies on the table adjoining 
the horizontal case. It is large, and shows distinctly the 
radiation of the fronds, so characteristic of tropical ferns. 
In the case may also be seen two species of remarkable 
undescribed Aroid plants, the larger from Portland, Ct., 
and the smaller from Turner's Falls. 

MASSACHUSETTS COLLECTION OF ROCKS AND MINERALS. 

This collection was made by President Hitchcock, during 
the Geological survey of the State, between the years 1830 
and 1840. Quite a number of additions have been made 
to it since, more particularly of the footmarks on stone, fos- 
sil plants and fishes of the Connecticut river sandstone ; 
insomuch that a whole room has been devoted to the for- 
mer, and a horizontal and vertical case to the latter. The 
collection is intended fully to illustrate all the rock forma- 
tions in the State, as well as their fossils. 

A collection similar to this, and the only other one in 
existence that will compare with this, is exhibited in the 
Agricultural Rooms at the State House in Boston. The 
original arrangement of both these collections may be found 
in the final report upon the Geology of Massachusetts. But 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 39 

partly owing to the progress of science, and partly to a 
defective arrangement of the numbers, the whole collection 
was classified anew and rearranged in 1859 ; and the new 
catalogue was published in 1859, in the annual volume 
upon agriculture issued by the Government for 1858. For 
the minute .details, the visitor will find this published cata- 
lojrue convenient for reference. 

The collection is located in the cases occupying the whole 
space between the two windows upon the north side of the 
room. In the gallery, in the first apartment on the left- 
hand side, are placed the specimens illustrating Alluvium. 
There are two sets of numbers ; the first consists of 152 
specimens of soils, the greater part of which have been 
analyzed. (See Geological Report). The second set em- 
braces the clays, sands, marls, peat, ochres, and drift, in 
all nearly 300 specimens. Near by the last specimens under 
alluvium, are some lightning tubes, or Fulgurites, from 
Montague, They are short, irregular tubes of sand, glazed 
on the inside. They appear to have been formed by the 
melting of sand as the electric currents left the ground to 
unite with the current meeting them from the clouds. They 
were discovered and presented to the Cabinet by Dr. A. 
Cobb, of Montague. 

Directly under these shelves, and beneath the gallery, may 
be seen specimens illustrating the Miocene Tertiary. These 
embrace the hematites, or iron ores and clays of Berkshire 
county, from which a great amount of pig-iron is constantly 
manufactured. No fossils occur in this deposit in Massa- 
chusetts ; but its geological age was determined from the 
beautiful fruits found in connection with these ores in Bran- 
don, Yt., which are noticed in the Vermont collection. This 
formation is illustrated by 30 specimens. The next 101 
specimens illustrate the Eocene Tertiary (or possibly cre- 
taceous) strata of Martha's Vineyard, consisting of green- 
sands, Kaolin clays, lignites, clay, iron ores, and various 
marine fossils. 

The Connecticut River Sandstone formation is represented 
by over 300 specimens in the cases. The various conglom- 
erates, sandstones, shales, limestones, and minerals of the 
group do not need special notice, nor the plants and fossil 



40 VISITORS GUIDE, 

fishes in detail. Part of them are in the same case with 
the Tertiary rocks, and the rest follow on in the top of the 
next case to the right, beneath the gallery. Among these 
specimens we would call attention to the Glathrojjteris rec- 
tiusculus, E. H., Jr., (Nos. 294, 295, etc.) a characteris- 
tic of the Connecticut River Sandstone in this country, 
and of the upper Trias and Lias of Europe. Another spe- 
cimen worthy of notice, is a mass of native copper, weigh- 
ing two and a half pounds. It was discovered in Whateiy, 
near the church, and presented to the Cabinet by Rufus and 
Dennis Dickinson. It would seem to be indicative of a 
larger mass of the same mineral in the vicinity. Another 
specimen, weighing a pound, may be seen in the collection 
of simple minerals from the same locality. 

The next formation represented, following the sandstones, 
is the Carboniferous, or Coal formation. The collection 
includes a large number of specimens of coal plants, etc., 
from Rhode Island as well as Massachusetts. These fossils 
have been named for us by L. Lesquereux, of Columbus, 
Ohio, and Dr. J. W. Dason, Principal of McGill College, 
Montreal. The former gentleman has described several new 
species of ferns from these specimens, drawings and des- 
criptions of which will appear in a great work upon the Car- 
boniferous Flora of North America which he is preparing. 
Many of the specimens illustrating the coal formation of Mas- 
sachusetts, are Azoic rocks, and the strata contain no beds of 
coal. This is the case with a belt of schists and slates ex- 
tending from Worcester county down the Merrimac river to 
its mouth. The metamorphic agencies in the earth, long be- 
fore man lived, seem to have greatly changed these stores of 
fuel. This process seems to have commenced in the beds 
of anthracite coal in the southeastern part of the State, and 
in Rhode Island, and the coal has been made hard and 
stony and of course not so easily burnt. 

Next succeed some 30 specimens illustrating the Devon- 
ian, or Old Red Sandstone rocks of the State ; and then 170 
specimens of the Silurian and Cambrian rocks, which in- 
clude most of the clay slates. To this group is assigned 
the slates in Braintree, containing the Paradoxides Ilarlani, 
green, and the taconic roofing slates of Berkshire county. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 41 

The next formations are the Azoic Limestones, mostly tlie 
Eolian limestone of Berkshire, and the quartz rock, wliich 
occurs mostly in the same county. A few dendrites in this 
collection are worthy of notice. There are 200 specimens 
of the limestones, and 118 of the quartz rock. 

The Mica Schists embrace 231 specimens, the Talcose 
Schists, 150. Near the end of the latter, are specimens illus- 
trating a section of- the rocks from Greenfield to Berlin, 
N. Y., passing along the route of the Troy and Boston 
Railroad. Quite a number of specimens show the nature 
of the rocks through which the famous Hoosac Tunnel has 
been, and is to be, excavated. 60 specimens of serpentine 
show tlie characters of that rock, particularly a set of ele- 
gant polished specimens of precious serpentine from New- 
bury. 100 specimens illustrate the Hornblende Schist, and 
last of the stratified rocks are 250 specimens illustrating 
the Gneiss formation with its minerals. These two will be 
found in the gallery, in the cases to the right of the one con- 
taining the soils, etc. 

The Unstratified Rocks occupy the rest of the shelves. 
These are : Greenstone, 150 specimens ; Porphyry, 150 
specimens ; Syenite, 175 specimens ; and Granite, 240 spe- 
cimens. Among the porphyries are a large number of 
beautifully smoothed pebbles of different colors, from North 
Scituate. Among the granites w^ill be noticed with inter- 
est two specimens (Nos. 62, 63) from the Pilgrim Rock in 
Plymouth, the rock upon which the first settlers of the 
State landed in 1620. These relics are the more valuable, 
since it is impossible to obtain more specimens from the 
original locality, in consequence of legal enactments. The 
visitor will also find several fine beryls from South Roy- 
alton (Nos. 214 to 221). 

The total number of specimens in the Massachusetts Collec- 
tion is 3200. They are owned by Prof. Hitchcock, Sen. 

Beneath the window, north of the iron door, are seyeral 
large specimens illustrating stratification ; but particularly 
a small pot-hole, worn by water. It was taken from Con- 
necticut river at Holyoke, by Consul B. Cutter, when the 
water was shut off for a time by the accumulation of the 
water above to the summit of the dam. 
4# 



42 visitors' guide. 

Between this window and the door are two collections 
beneath the gallery, of which we would saj a word. 

COLLECTION OF THE ROCKS OF ENGLAND. 

In the next case beyond the window, near the bottom, 
commences a series of the rocks of England, amounting to 
nearly six hundred specimens. The specimens are much 
smaller than in the German collection, and some of the for- 
mations are scarcely represented. Yet they give an instruc- 
tive view of some formations, entirely unlike anything in 
this country ; e. g. the Chalk Formation, and the Wealden 
Group, which is fully represented. This is a fresh water 
formation, occupying a wide space in the southeast part of 
England, which appears once to have been the estuary of a 
large river, that has disappeared beneath the ocean. 

On the banks of this river once lived enormous reptiles, 
such as the iguanodon ; a few of whose bones may be seen 
in the collection (Nos. 816 to 828). This collection is owned 
by Professor E. Hitchcock, Sen. 

COLLECTION FROM THE WEST INDIES. 

This was obtained by Professor Hovey, mainly in the 
islands of St. Croix and Antigua. The first thing in the 
collection of special interest, is the large number of fossil 
shells and corals (Nos. 1 to 136) belonging to the most recent 
of the formations. They seem, in fact, to correspond very 
nearly to the molluscs now occupying the West Indian 
seas. 

The fine and numerous specimens of wood converted into 
silex, is another point of interest in this collection (Nos. 137 
to 156). The change is most complete, and yet the most 
delicate vessels of the wood are preserved ; and even the 
mosses that once covered the decaying trunks present a 
natural appearance, even as to color. Several of the speci- 
mens are finely polished, and they form the most beautiful 
agates which nature furnishes. 

No. 165 is a piece of the recent limestone rock from 
Guadeloupe, in which at least two human skeletons have 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 43 

been found ; and are now deposited, one in the British Mu- 
seum in London, and the other in the Royal Cabinet in 
Paris. This rock is very hard ; yet it is constantly form- 
ing by the action of the sea, and the skeletons are supposed 
to be those of Caribs. 

COLLECTIONS IN THE CENTRE. 

As the visitor enters the room he is at once struck by 
the beautiful example of plicated strata, or folia, opposite 
the door. It was taken from the bed of Deerfield river, 
at Shelburne Falls, Mass., and is one of the most attractive, 
as well as instructive, specimens in the room. Beyond it is 
a cast of the head of the Megatherium, a gigantic sloth of 
the later geological periods. In the centre of the room, in 
a square case, is a collection of five hundred specimens of 
fossils from Europe, which is an interesting one for study. 
Above them is a glazed box, containing specimens of calcite 
from Weyer's Cave in Virginia; also gypseus alabaster 
from the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Between this case 
and the door is a horizontal case filled with claystones, 
largely .from Massachusetts. 

Upon the other side, no one can pass by the immense 
cast of the head of the Deinotherium, the largest quadru- 
ped that ever lived. It was like an elephant in general 
structure, but had two tusks below, which may have served 
as an anchor, to prevent the animal from floating away when 
asleep ; for he is supposed to have been aquatic in his hab- 
its, like the hippopotamus. Its size may be conjectured by 
comparing this head with that of the Mastodon gigantius, 
suspended from the ceiling, almost over the Deinotherium. 
Tiie mastodon was larger than the elephant. The two 
models of large tusks of the mastodon came from the great 
Newburg mastodon, now exhibited at Dr. Warren's Museum 
in Boston. All that remains of the orio'inal tusk is in a 
glazed box at the foot of one of the models, as already 
noticed. 

The specimens in the upright cases, facing the Deinothe- 
rium head, are European and Asiatic. Those upon the 
north side are, an economic collection from Europe, num- 



44 visitors' guide. 

bering three hundred specimens : fossils of the Permian 
group, specimens from Bordeaux, France, and fossils of the 
carboniferous limestone of Ireland. Upon the south side is 
a fine collection of fossil plants and fishes of Europe. The 
Asiatic specimens are to the left of the fossils, and are 
chiefly from Asia Minor and Syria. On top of these up- 
right cases are models of large European specimens of Sau- 
rians, etc. They are the Plesiosaurus, Mystriosaurus, Ich- 
thyosaurus, Pentremites, or Lily Enerinite, the Labyrintho- 
don, Zeuglodon, jaw of a mastodon, from Missouri, etc. 

SPECIMENS UPON THE TABLES. 

Four tables are filled with large specimens. Upon the 
one facing the Missionary Collection, are columns of trap 
from the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, and Mount Tom in 
Massachusetts ; also septaria, or turtle stones. Upon the 
next table is a very fine specimen of the clathropteris, show- 
ing the I'adiating top of the tree ; specimens illustrating 
veins in rocks and fossils, from the Black river, and chazy 
limestones of Vermont. The table north of this, is filled 
with specimens illustrating drift strias, mostly from Ver- 
mont. Upon the table facing the Massachusetts Collection 
are many United States fossils, waterworn masses of rocks, 
and interesting hippurites from Mount Lebanon in Syria. 

COLLECTION OF POLISHED MARBLES, ALABASTERS, 
PORPHYRIES, ETC. 

These amount to one hundred and sixty-two specimens, 
three inches square, sunk into a slab of white marble, and 
separated by narrow slips of black marble. They were put 
up at Rome, and exhibit many of the most beautiful rocks 
used in Europe for ornamental work, as well as many that 
are antiques ; that is, found only in the old ruins. The slab 
is suspended at the farther end of the upright case, south 
of the Deinotherium's head. The specimens are arranged 
in nine perpendicular rows, or columns ; or, if we reckon 
crosswise, in fifteen rows. The first vertical row consists 
almost enth'ely of alabasters. The next four columns ex- 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 45 

liibit a great variety of the most esteemed marbles, among 
which the Breccia marbles predominate. Others are the 
famous Cipolin, Brocatellas, Parian, Pentelic, Carrara, 
Egyptian, and other antiques. In column sixth, we have 
Jasper and numerous Diaspores. In column seventh, are 
various Granites and Porphyries. In number eight, are 
Serpentines, Petrified Wood, Basalts, Verd-Antique, Ma- 
lachite, Lapis Lazuli, etc. This slab was obtained in Rome 
by Professor Hovey, at an expense to the College of about 
sixty dollars. 



DICKINSON NINEYEH GALLERY. 

Attached to the Woods Cabinet is a small room contain- 
ing ancient sculptures from Nineveh. The specimens were 
procured by Rev. Henry Lobdel, M. D., late missionary of 
the A. B. C. F. M. to Mosul. The room was built by the 
liberality of Enos Dickinson, Esq., of South Amherst. 
Besides the sculptures are several fresco paintings, nearly 
of natural size, of the most interesting objects from Nine- 
veh, described by Layard. 

Most persons know that Mr. Layard, an English gentle- 
man, now a member of Parliament, at two several times, 
a few years since, spent many months in exploring the 
numerous ruins oh the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, 
in Mesopotamia, especially at Kouyunjik opposite Mosul, 
and at Niraroud, nearly twenty miles further south, both of 
which places Mr. Layard regards as probably within the 
limits of ancient Nineveh. The sculptures are from these 
two localities. Mr. Layard disinterred a great number of 
the rooms of tlie old palaces in these ruins, and sent such 
as he pleased to the British Museum in London, where is 
an immense collection. But he did not need them ail ; and 
being a personal friend of the American missionaries at 
Mosul and Ooroomiah, allowed them to select and send 
away to this country a large number. These specimens 
were forwarded to Amherst at two different times. 

The sculptures are upon slabs of gypseous alabaster. 
They had to be sawed into slabs about two inches thick and 



46 visitors' guide. 

several feet square, so that they might be conveyed over 
500 miles across Asia ]Minor, on the backs of camels, to 
Scanderoon. The boxes weighed about 280 pounds 
each. It is no wonder that they were somewhat broken 
when they arrived ; but fortunately none of the cracks 
passed through the most delicate parts of the figures. 
The slabs are set in the walls of the gallery, and are situ- 
ated nearly as they were in their original walls. We 
are fortunate to be able to present a notice of these sculp- 
tures from the pen of Mr. John Avery, Mathematical Tutor 
in the College, who has spent a great deal of time in study- 
ing the sculptures and the cuneiform characters engraven 
upon them. . 

Description of the Figures. 

The ancient sculptures presented to Amherst College by 
Dr. Lobdel, of Mosul, and deposited in the Nineveh Gal- 
lery, are six in number. They are in the best and earliest 
styles of Assyrian art, which was marked by variety and 
elegance of form ; and belong to a period as early as 930 
B. C. As indicated by the inscriptions and the bas-reliefs, 
they were all taken from the northwest palace, Nimroud. 
This palace, built by Sardanapalus, was one of the most 
magnificent yet discovered in Assyria. It was 360 feet in 
length, and 300 in breadth, standing on a raised platform 
overlooking the Tigris. It consisted of a long central hall, 
surrounded by numerous ceiled chambers, whose sides and 
floors were covered with alabaster slabs, upon which were 
depicted scenes of every variety. The present position of 
the slabs conforms as much as possible to their original 
situation. 

No. 1 represents an eagle-headed divinity, probably a 
type of the Supreme Deity; and he may be identified with 
Nisroch of Scripture, in whose temple Sennacherib was 
slain by his sons. He w^ears the flowing robe of the Assyr- 
ians, secured at the waist by a girdle terminating in cords 
and tassels reaching to the feet. The border of" the robe 
is fringed and elaborately embroidered. Upon the neck is 
a necklace, and upon the arms and wrists are armlets and 
bracelets. The right hand is plucking a cone from the 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 47 

sacred treC) while the left carries a square metallic vessel. 
In the girdle are two daggers. 

No. 2 is a winged figure, probably a demi-god, and in 
dress and posture does not differ essentially from No. 1. 
The head is covered with a circular helmet. The beard 
and hair are very long, and, as in all of the figures, elab- 
orately platted. There are sandals of wood or leather on 
the feet, ear-rings in the ears, and three daggers in the 
girdle. 

No. 3 differs from No. 2 only in the ornament of tRe 
helmet, and the varied and beautiful embroidery of the robe. 
Some of the patterns are the mystic honey-suckle, alterna- 
ting with the lotus or pine-cone, and winged figures. 

No. 4 is Sardanapalus, who built the palace, and whose 
deeds are recorded in the inscriptions. He has returned 
from war victorious, and is offering thanks to his gods. Plis 
left hand grasps a bow, and his right holds a censer or basin 
of holy water. His head is covered with a helmet, pecu- 
liar to a king, surrounded by a band from which cords and 
tassels extend down the back. This king was a great con- 
queror, and styles himself the "one who has reduced under 
his authorities all countries, from the rising of the sun to 
the going down thereof" 

No, 5 is another winged priest or divinity. The right 
hand is uplifted in the act of devotion, and the left holds a 
sacred flower. The head has no helmet, but is encircled by 
a garland. 

No. 6 is an eagle-headed divinity, differing from No. 1 
only in a few points of dress. 

All the slabs bear inscriptions, reading from left to right, 
which are precisely identical, and refer to the king who 
built the palace. They are written in the cuneiform char- 
acter, which was the monumental writing of the Assyrians, 
while an entirely distinct form was used for private docu- 
ments. In the first line is found a genealogical list of three 
kings, . which may be read thus : Sardanapalus . . . son 
of Tiglathi-Nin . . . son of Iva-lush II. [built this palace.] 
Between each proper name are numerous titles. The re- 
mainder of the inscription is probably taken up with an 
account of the building of the palace and the exploits of the 
king. Nos. 2 and o only contain the entire inscription. 



48 VISITOHS' GtjlDE. 

There are also in the gallery five bricks bearing inscrip- 
tions, three from the centre palace, Nimroud, one from the 
N. W. palace, and one from Babylon. The bricks from the 
centre palaces bear the same inscription, in which we find the 
names and titles of three kings in genealogical order, which 
read : Shalmaneser . . . son of Sardanapalus . . . son of 
Tiglathi-Mn [built this palace]. The characters were 
generally formed by a sharp instrument before the bricks 
were baked. The inscription on the Babylonian brick is 
iiiteresting as exhibiting an approach to modern printing, 
for the characters were impressed with a stamp. They are 
so minute and indistinct as to be hardly legible. 

FRESCO PAINTINGS. 

The fresco paintings on the walls are taken from sculp- 
tures abounding in the ruins of Assyria. 

No. 7 is a winged human-headed lion. Pairs of these 
mythic forms are often found guarding the portals of Assyr- 
ian temples. The body of a lion and the head of a man 
denote a union of physical with intellectu£i,l power. 

'No. 8 represents Sennacherib at the seige of Lachish. 
Beneath is an inscription v/hich reads as follows : " Senna- 
cherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, 
sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish. 
I give permission for its slaughter." 

No. 9 is a fish-god. The head of the fish forms a mitre 
above that of the man, while the scaly back and tail fall 
like a cloak behind. This figure may be identified v-ith 
the sacred "man-fish," wdio, according to tradition, issued 
from the Persian sea, and taught the Chalda3ans the arts 
and sciences, Dagon of the Philistines was vs^orshipped 
under this form. 

No. 10 is a Sphynx. The body is that of a lion; the 
head is beardless, the cap is square and highly ornamented 
at the top ; a pair of wings supported a platform which may 
have been used as an altar, or place tO receive tribute. 

Nos. 11, 12, and 13 represent an Assyrian spearman, 
archer, and slinger. Their difterent styles of dress show 
them to be mercenaries from various nations in the Assyrian 
army. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 49 

No. \4z is a eunuch. This class seems to have been 
invested with somewhat of a sacred character, and are con- 
spicuous in religious ceremonies. 

No. 15 is a winged figure in a circle, a symbol of deity. 
In the early sculptures it is the only emblem of divinity 
which the king worships. It is usually represented as 
watching over the monarch, shooting arrows at his enemies 
in battle, and when triumphant, as here, uplifting the right 
hand, and holding in the left an unbent bow. This figure 
may have suggested to Ezekiel " a wheel in the middle of 
a wheel." 

No. 16 is a fish-god, similar to No. 9. 

No. 17 is a winged horse, from which the Greeks may 
have derived their idea of Pegasus. 

No. 18 is a gryphon. It has the body of a lion with 
the wings and head of an eagle. 

No. 19 is an Indian monkey, which an attendant secures 
by a heavy chain. 

No. 20 is a wild bull from India. The Assyrians often 
brought home foreign animals from their distant campaigns. 

OTHER COLLECTIONS IN THE NINEVEH GALLERY. 

For want of room elsewhere, a large collection of Ver- 
mont claystones are placed in this room. They illustrate 
beautifully many phases of these very curious bodies. An- 
other case contains lignites from Brandon, Vt., and Mount 
Lebanon in Syria^The latter is traversed by a vein of 
quartz. It was presented by Kev. Daniel Bliss, American 
missionary on Mount Lebanon, who sportively remarked 
in sending it : " This is one of the trees that Hiram did not 
send to Solomon." 

The other two cases contain several articles, mostly in 
fragments, from Nineveh and Babylon ; also, modern arti- 
cles of dress and ornament from the same region, such as 
shoes, bracelets, lamps, pipes, spoons, caps, etc. 

A fine collection of coins, mostly ancient, and other 
objects of virtu have been on exhibition in the Nineveh 
Gallery. But they present so strong attractions to the 
unprincipled ^urloiner as to need some special means of 

5 



50 visitors' guide. 

security, an therefore the Curator has withdrawn tnem 
from exhibition until the Trustees shall order otherwise,' or 
fit up an Archeeological room, to be accessible only in special 
cases. Such a room is greatly needed, and it would con- 
tain the following collections ; — 

1. One of polished and engraved gems, seals, and cylin- 
ders from Nineveh and Babylon. 

2. Coins of gold, silver, and copper, mostly ancient, 
Greek, Roman, Cufic, Persian, Russian, Hindoo, etc., in 
number 1000, commencing with those of Alexander the 
Great ; found chiefly in Mesopotamia. 

3. Sulphur casts of the medals struck by Napoleon 
Bonaparte during his reign, 185 specimens. 

4. Plaster casts of the heads of illustrious men mostly 
ancient, 48 specimens. 

5. Copper Medals struck by the government of the Uni- 
ted States, 84 specimens. 

6. The Indian relics consist of arrow-heads, spear-heads, 
bowls, pipes, pottery work, etc., of the North American 
Indians, mostly of those who lived formerly in the Con- 
necticut river valley. More than 1100 specimens are 
embraced in it, which were collected and presented by Pro- 
fessor Edw. Hitchcock, Jr., and by him presented to the 
College. These are now on exhibition, temporarily, in hor- 
izontal cases in the Zoological room. 

THE GALLERY. 

Many of the specimens in the gallery have already been 
noticed, as they are the continuation of collections below, as 
the United States and Massachusetts collections. Two others 
remain to be noticed : the Simple Minerals, and the Con- 
necticut Collection ; the former presented by Prof. Edward 
Hitchcock, and the latter by Prof. C. A. Shepard. 

The simple minerals are arranged according to the chem- 
ical classification, as drawn out in Dana's Mineralogy. 
There are 1900 specimens in all. An appendix to this 
collection, in the first case to the right of the window, con- 
sists of specimens illustrating the scale of hardness, the 
luster, refraction, and the crystalline form of minerals. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 51 

The Connecticut Collection, of 800 specimens, was col^ 
lected by Prof. Shepard, when exploring the geology of 
the State under legislative authority. It consists of two 
parts : the geological part, showing the different rocks de- 
veloped in the State ; and the mineralogical part, display- 
ing in scientijfic order the different minerals occurring in 
Connecticut. 

GEOLOGICAL LECTURE-ROOM. 

Attached to the Woods Cabinet is an octagonal Lecture- 
E-oom, whose entrance is through the Nineveh Gallery, as 
well as from abroad. Besides the ordinary paraphernalia of 
a lecture-room, there are several objects here of interest. 
First, are three embossed maps, or maps showing the con- 
figuration of the surface by actual elevations and depres- 
sions. They are of Europe, North America, and the Alpine 
region of Europe. The white parts represent the region 
covered with perpetual snow, and glaciers. They are excel- 
lent aids to the study of physical geography. 

Upon the walls are rough sketches of three extinct ani- 
mals, intended to be of the natural size. The one upon the 
left, however, is too small, as may be seen readily by com- 
paring its head with the model of the skull of the Deino- 
therium giganteum in the Woods Cabinet. The middle 
one is intended to represent the Megatherium. It was an 
immense sloth, one of the Edentate mammals, preserving 
the characteristics of our modern sloths. The third is a 
sketch of the largest species of Pterodactyle, or flying rep- 
tile, that has ever been brought to light. The length, from 
tip to tip of its expanded wings, must have been twenty feet. 
This animal had the head and neck of a bird, the mouth of 
a reptile, the wings of a bat, and the body and tail of a 
mammal. It could fly, creep, walk, and swim ; thus, like 
Milton's fiend, qualified for all services and all elements. 

VERMONT COLLECTION. 

A large upright case on one side holds the Vermont Col- 
lection of rocks, minerals, and fossils, which was obtained 



52 visitors' guide. 

by Professor C. B. Adams, President Hitchcock, and the 
Curator, when engaged in the official survey of the State. 
Only those specimens procured by Professor Adams belong 
to the College; the others are deposited. 

The following are the groups of rocks represented in this 
collection ; also the order in which they are placed, com- 
mencing at the top and proceeding downwards : — 

I. Unstratified Hocks. — Granite, Syenite, Protogine, 
Trap, Porphyry. 

II. Azoic Stratified Hocks. — Gneiss, Mica Schist, Calcif- 
erous Mica Schist, Talcose Schist, Serpentine, Quartz Rock, 
Clay Slate. 

III. Fossiliferous Stratified Rochs. > — Potsdam Group, 
embracing the Quartz Rock mostly, Georgia Slate, and the 
Red Sandstone series ; Calciferous Sandrock, Talcose Con- 
glomerate, Talcoid Schists, Eolian Limestone, Chazy Lime- 
stone, Bird's-eye Limestone, Black river Limestone, Tren- 
ton Limestone, Utica Slate, Hudson river group, Upper 
Helderberg Limestone, Miocene Tertiary, and Alluvium. 
A large number of claystones really belong to this collec- 
tion, but they are exhibited elsewhere. 

"We would call attention only to a few of these specimens, 
viz. to the concretionary granites, or " petrified butter- 
nuts ; " the specimens illustrating the change from sedimen- 
tary conglomerate to granite ; the series of traps from Shel- 
burne ; the numerous specimens illustrating the calciferous 
mica schist ; the fossils of the Lower Silurian series, par- 
ticularly of the Potsdam and Trenton groups, and the typi- 
cal series of Miocene Tertiary fruits from Brandon, which 
were named by Leo Lesquereux, of Columbus, Ohio. The 
latter are the most valuable portion of the whole collection. 
The character of the trees of that period is indicated by 
the fruits better to the botanist, than by the large fragment 
of a trunk in the adjacent room. This specimen, when sent 
to Amhei'st, was labelled, " A piece of flood-wood, from 
Noah's Ark." 

LARGE SPECIMENS. 

Quite a number of large specimens are exhibited in the 
lower part of the case. Among them are a number of 



AMHERST COLLEGE. ' 5^ 

elongated and distorted pebbles, from Rhode Island and ' 
Vermont, which are a unique collection, and of very great 
value in learning the true mode of the singular sietamor- 
phic j)rocess through which the stratified rocks are i\\l pass- 
ing. Other specimens are, the Stromatopora from near 
Saratoga, N. Y., an extinct coral. A large number of 
models of extinct animals are also placed here, particularly 
of the Iguanodon, Ichthyosaurus, Labyrinthodon, Plesio- 
saurus, Pterodactyle, Labyrinthodon, and foot of the Palap- 
teryx. They are mostly constructed upon the scale of an 
inch to the foot. 

THE SHEPARD CABINET. 

DESCRIBED BY PROFESSOIl C. U. SHEPARD. 

This cabinet occupies the second floor of Wood's edifice, 
a fire-proof, octagonal structure that forms the central por- 
tion of several connected buildings, crowning the most 
beautiful eminence on the college grounds. The apart- 
ment, which is lighted from the roof and has a gallery, is 
forty feet in diameter. The entrance is from a small ante- 
room on the east, pierced on its south side with a circular 
window, from whence is obtained a view of South Amherst, 
Hadley, and the Holyoke range, that has been pronounced 
equal in picturesque beauty to any landscape in New Eng- 
land. This room contains along one of its walls the larger 
specimens of a collection of shells, the smaller being ar- 
ranged in drawers. It represents more than 5000 species. 
On entering the cabinet, the visitor perceives that the 
arrangement of the mineralogical collection commences on 
his left with the front side of the top shelf, the specimens 
proceeding in rows to the rear, and again from front to 
back, and so on, in the same order, to the end of the case 
(behind each glazed door or pair of doors, secured by a 
single lock) ; it then returns to the shelf below. The 
spectator is thus conducted nearly round the room, before 
reaching the completion of" the system. The collection is 
systematically disposed upon the two upper shelves only : 
those below are reserved for the reception of larger-sized 
specimens, and for the thinning out of the collection where 
5* 



54 visitor's guide. 

the samples above become so numerous as to interfere with 
the convenient inspection of the species.^ The principle 
of classification is the Natural History method adopted in 
the proprietor's Treatise on Mineralogy, 3d edition, New 
Haven, 1856. The last three glazed doors, however, are 
devoted to a chemical classification, a single specimen being 
placed to represent each species. Here each specimen 
bears a printed label, giving its name and the chemical 
formula for its composition. Below the chemically arranged 
collection, is one consisting of imperfectly determined spe- 
cies. A third collection, arranged in three horizontal cases, 
placed upon cabinets in the room, illustrates the natural 
properties of minerals, each specimen having a printed label 
affixed, pointing out the particular property intended for 
illustration. A fourth collection, in a vertical case on the 
western side of the room, contains polished and artificially 
wrought minerals. A fifth vertical case (glazed on both 
sides), placed directly in front of the entrance, contains on 
the side next to the door, books, catalogues, etc., mostly 
relating to the collections ; while its opposite is devoted 
(with the exception of a few large specimens of crystalized 
minerals lying together) to the meteoric cabinet. A por- 
tion of this much prized collection, however, is usually 
kept in an iron safe, placed contiguous to the upright cab- 
inet. The two great blocks of African meteoric iron, and a 
third from Mexico, occupy glazed cases on the right and 
left of the lecture-table. A narrow horizontal case, filled 
with models of crystals, is placed upon the lecture-table, 
while the remainder of the models, together with goniom- 
eters, balances, and other instruments of mineralogical re- 
search, are now removed to Professor Shepard's lecture- 
room under the Johnson Chapel. 

The meteoric case is surmounted with a cabinet, con- 
taining an herbarium of above 6000 species, the majority 
of which were collected in the United States. 

The gallery is appropriated to the geological collection. 
Commencing on the left (as with the mneral cabinet below), 
the first case is partly devoted to the British provinces in 

^ The sashes iu front of the two upper shelves arc glazed with 
plate-glass. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 55 

North America. After this, the Northern and Eastern States 
of the Union follow in geographical order to Florida, the 
States of Connecticut, New York, the Carolinas, and Geor- 
gia being the most fully illustrated. Next follow the West 
Indies, England, France, and Continental Europe, conclud- 
ing with partial series of rocks from more distant regions. 
It is intended to arrange the specimens systematically under 
each of these geographical regions ; but thus far, time only 
has been at command to commence the work. For the 
same reason, the ticketing has not been more fully carried 
out. The collection contains about 600j) specimens. 

The visitor who views these collections may desire to 
have his attention called to a few points, believed to be 
worthy of his particular notice. Of these the complete- 
ness of the mineralogical series is one. Few collections 
surpass it in this respect. Much attention has also been 
given to a representation of many of the species in all 
their varieties, especially those of crystalline form. The 
specimens being scrupulously protected against handling, 
dust, and excess of light, they exhibit their colors and 
lustre to unusual advantage. The visitor will remark that 
no specimen is admitted into the systematic series that has 
been artificially modified in any of its properties. The 
main collection is intended to show the contents of the 
entire mineral kingdom in their most important relation- 
ships, and in their unmodified condition. All minerals that 
have suffered artificial alterations will be found in the tech- 
nological collection. The greatest number of specimens 
are ticketed with printed labels, attached directly to their 
upper surfaces. The general catalogue, however, with full 
notices of the localities is not yet made out. The number 
of specimens in the various mineralogical collections is over 
10,000. The visitor will find the following species worthy 
of especial notice, viz., Calcite, Fluor, Barytes, Witherite, 
Apatite, Troostite, Triplite, Liroconite, Atacamite, Diop- 
tase, Mendipite, Matlockite, Pyromorphite, Anglesite, Mica, 
Apophyllite, Harmotome, Scolezite, Lazulite, Feldspar, 
Spodumene, Pyroxene, Opal, Garnet, Quartz, Boracite, 
Axinite, Tourmaline, Zircon, Beryl, Chrysoberyl, Topaz, 
Spinel, Corundum, Brookite, Rutile, Columbite, Cassiterite, 



56 1 visitors' guide. 

Ilmenite, Manganite, Tetradymite, Chalcopyrite, Pyrites, 
Galena, E-edruthite, Harrisite, Bournonite, Tetrahedrite, 
and Blende. 

The meteoric collection has been in the process of form- 
ation since 1828, and now contains examples from 170 
authentic localities, with a total weight of about 1000 Ibs.-"^ 
The oldest stone present whose fall is exactly known, is 
that of Ensisheim, France, November 7, 1492, and was 
purchased from the celebrated collection of the late Sir 
Francis Chan trey. The newest stone, of 53 pounds weight, 
is from Ohio, May^ 1860. The large blocks of meteoric 
iron from Africa, from Mexico, from Kuff's Mountain, 
South Carolina, and Putnam county, Georgia, together with 
large stones from Bishop sville. South Carolina, from Linn 
county, Iowa, and from Cabarras county. North CaroUna, 
may be considered worthy of especial notice. 

Among the geological series, the most interesting groups 
are the Tertiary fossils of the Southern States, the aurifer- 
ous rocks of the same section, the impressions of fishes, and 
the foot-prints of the Connecticut valley, the coal fossils of 
Ohio and Pennsylvania, the Silurian fossils of England, 
those from the chalk, oolite, lias, and coal of the same coun- 
try, together with the reptilian fishes of Birdie-house near 
Edinburgh, the mountain limestone of Ireland, and the 
Triassic and Jura series of Germany. It will be borne in 
mind, however, that the entire geological cabinet has but 
very recently been distributed to the cases in the gallery. 
Much time will be required to perfect the arrangement, 
and to render the collection fully intelligible by labels. 

CHARLES UPHAM SHEPARD. 
Amherst, Feb., 1862. 

ICIINOLOGICAL CABINET, 

OR THE CABINET OF FOSSIL FOOTMARKS. 

This occupies the most of the lower story of the Apple- 
ton Cabinet. The principal room is one hundred feet long 
and thirty feet wide, and one of the side rooms, twenty-two 

'■ Tho most y;\1 liable collection of meteorites is that in the Impcnfil 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 67 

bj eleven feet, is also filled with specimens ; the three other 
side rooms being used, one of them as a duplicate room 
for ichnology, another for zoology, and a third for botany. 
Several large slabs have also lately been placed in the 
Zoological Lecture-room, for want of room elsewhere. The 
Ichnological rooms are nearly as full as they ever ought to 
be, containing not less than nine thousand tracks, by far the 
largest collection of this sort in the world. Indeed, as yet 
we know of no cabinet but this exclusively devoted to 
footmarks. Great care has been taken by the position 
of the tables, sometimes horizontal and sometimes inclined, 
and especially by the position of the large slabs on their 
edges, to make the light fall on them most advantageously. 
Without experiment most persons would suppose that the 
gallery ought to run along the south side of the main hall, 
rather than the north side, for the best exhibition of the 
specimens. But it is not so. The main principle of the 
arrangement was to place the specimens so that the light 
should fall obliquely upon their faces. 

The following historical notices respecting this cabinet 
are copied from some private notes handed us by Dr. 
Hitchcock, who made this collection : — 

" My collection of fossil footmarks was begun in 1835. 
For as soon as I had turned my attention to Ichnology (the 
science of tracks), I commenced the accumulation of 
specimens, and from that day to the present I have never 
ceased to gather in all which I could honestly obtain. For 
no other part of the cabinets have I labored so hard, or 
encountered so many difficulties. True, for some years at 
first, I had the field essentially to myself, and had I then 
been fully aware of its richness and extent, I might have 
secured a large amount of specimens at a reasonable rate. 
But as a consequence of what I published on the subject, 
prices ere long became fabulously high. Dexter Marsh, 
however, who had been moit successful as a collector, ere 

Cabinet at Vienna. Fi'om a paper on this subject by W. Haidino;cT, 
read before the Mathematical and Natural History section of tlie 
Royal Academy of Sciences Jan. 7, 1859, it appears that the collec- 
tion numbered one hundred and thirty-seven localities ; since which 
date others have been added, making as the present g-rand total one 
hundred and seventy-three, Avith a total weight of about GOO pounds. 



58 



visitors' 'GUIDE. 



long died, and his executors offered his specimens at auc- 
tion. I could not see that fine collection scattered through 
the country without an effort to obtain some money to pur- 
chase some of them, and I adopted this plan. By working 
seventeen years, even without much money, I had got 
together a collection, which so good a judge as Prof. C. U. 
Shepard pronounced worth three thousand five hundred 
dollars, and whose cash value would not be less than two 
thousand dollars. In a circular to several benevolent gen- 
tlemen, I offered to present this to the College, if others 
would furnish me with six or seven hundred dollars with 
which to attend Marsh's auction. John Tappan first re- 
sponded by a subscription of five hundred dollars ; David 
Sears followed with an equal amount ; Gerard Hallock 
with two hundred and fifty dollars ; and several others with 
one hundred dollars ; so that I went to the auction with 
nearly two thousand dollars in hand ; and secured many 
fine specimens. Moreover, the stream of benevolence 
which was thus opened continued to flow for many years, 
till the beginning of the war in 1861, in fact, and the whole 
amount received was as much as three thousand eight hun- 
dred dollars. Had John Tappan's subscription been fifty 
dollars instead of five hundred, I think the maximum 
amount would hardly have gone over five hundred dollars. 
As it is, I have been enabled to spend nearly four thousand 
dollars, besides my own initial subscription. The following 
is a complete list of the donors. The donation of Samuel 
Appleton for the whole building was ten thousand dollars ; 
and as the footmarks occupy nearly all its lower story, I 
place five thousand dollars against his name. 



Hon. Samuel Appleton, Boston, 
Edward Hitchcock, in specimens, . 
John Tappan, Esq., Boston, 
Hon. David Sears, Boston, 
Mi's. Abbott Lawrence, Boston, 
Eoswell Field, Esq., in specimens, #11, 
Gerard Hallock, Esq., N. Y., 
William Miles, Esq., N. Y., . 
Hon. E. P. Prentice, Albany, 
John Clarke, Esq., Northampton, . 
Hon. Edward Dickinson, Amherst, . 
William Dickinson, Esq., Worcester, 
John M. Doubleday, Esq., N. Y., 



$5000 
2000 
,500 
500 
300 
300 
250 
200 
150 
100 
100 
100 
100 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 



59 



$100 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 



James H. Welles, Esq., N. Y., .... 
Hon. Jonathan Phillips, Boston, 
Hon. Samuel Williston, East Hampton, . 
Hon. Albert H. Porter, Niaj2;ara Falls, . 
Prof. Edward Tuckerman, Amherst, 
George Meriam, Esq., Springfield, . 

Hon. John Gray, Boston, 

Dr. Nathan Allen, Lowell, .... 
WiUiam Ropes, Esq., Boston, .... 
Hon. Horatio G. Knight, Easthampton, 
J. P. Williston, Esq., Northampton, 
Edward Barrett, Northampton, 
Gilbert A. Smith, Esq., South Hadley, in specimens, 
Pliny Moody, Esq., South Hadley, in specimens, 
Rev.' Plinius Moody, Esq., South Hadley, in specimens, 

$10,175 
" This is a noble list, and it is gratifying to have such 
names to endorse this enterprise. But these are only a 
select few out of the many whom I addressed ; so that the 
work has been a laborious one, yet far more successful than 
I ever expected. I remember such a case as that of Mrs. 
Lawrence, the only lady on the list, with much pleasure. 
I was almost afraid to state the case to her, and I suggested 
that one hundred dollars was the maximum of my expec- 
tations ; but the check returned was for three hundred 
dollars. 

" But the labor and difficulty were only begun Avhen the 
money was obtained. In no othor enterprise of my life 
have I been obliged to work so hard and to exercise so 
much strategetic skill, to avoid paying exorbitant prices, 
and even to avoid defeat. The high prices paid at the 
auction (one slab sold for three hundred and seventy-five 
dollars) produced an impression of the great value of these 
relics throughout the valley, and if I only expressed an 
interest in a particular specimen, the presumption was that 
it was rare, and the price went up accordingly. I was 
obliged, therefore, to exercise a good deal of prudence and 
show some sang froid, or, with my small means, I could not 
make much headway. I worked as quietly as possible, with 
my plans locked up in my own breast, yet with inflexible 
resolution and perseverance, looking constantly to God for 
help, I felt a conviction that such a collection would illus- 
trate a curious chapter in his providence towards our globe, 
and that the larger the collection the more fully would it be 



60 VISITORS^ GUIBE. 

illustrated. I expected myself to be able to make only a 
beginning ; but I wanted to provide the means for my suc- 
cessors to carry forward the work, which they could not do 
if the specimens were scattered, no one could tell where, 
and the different varieties were not gathered together in 
some one cabinet. Large as the collection now is, I have 
often been pained to see very fine specimens taken out of 
my hands by those who could pay more for them than I 
could, and carried I know not whither. 

" In such circumstances I have tried to be as economical 
as possible in the use of the money in my hands for this 
purpose. Whenever I could, I have myself gone to the 
localities and dug out the specimens. When not too large, 
I have transported them on my own business wagon. Again 
and again have I entered Amherst upon such a load, gen- 
erally, however, preferring not to arrive till evening, be- 
cause, especially of late, such manual labor is regarded by 
many as not comporting with the dignity of a Professor. 
I have not, however, in general, paid much attention to such 
a feeling, except to be pained by seeing it increase, because 
its prevalence is changing the character of the College, and 
driving away those who are obliged to do their own work. 

" But though this has been a laborious work, it has been 
intensely interesting, or I should long since have abandoned 
it as not worth incurring so much of misrepresentation, 
opposition, and hostility as I have met. It was emphati- 
cally a new field, scarcely entered upon by European natu- 
ralists, and in this country, although far richer in materials, 
no one had gone before me. But as I pried open one after 
another the folded leaves of this ancient record, it revealed 
a marvellous history of the early Fauna of this valley. It 
was a new branch of PaljEontology, whose title page had 
been written in Europe, but I had stumbled upon materials 
enough to almost fill the volume. Up to the present time 
I have been trying to spell out the hieroglyphics ; but even 
now I presume the work is only begun. Success to those 
who come after me ; and may they find in the cabinet, 
which I leave them, many curious archives which they 
shall decipher. 

" A few words of ichnological history may here be de- 
sirable. 



AMHjERS'r COLLEGE. 61 

" The first tracks in stone noticed anywhere on the globe, 
so far as I know, were ploughed up by Pliny Moody, in 
South Hadley, in 1802, while a boy. This slab is now 
in our cabinet (No. V)- But though the impressions were 
then spoken of as < the tracks of poultry,' and of ' Noah's 
raven,' no account of them was given to the pubUc, nor the 
attention of any scientific, man called to them ; and it was 
only after I had been for some tune investigating the sub- 
ject, that I accidentally learnt of the existence of this slab, 
and purchased it of the heirs of the late Dr. Dwight, of 
South Hadley. But it was undoubtedly dug up earlier 
than any fossil footmark on the globe that has been pre- 
served. 

"The first scientific account of fossil footmarks, and 
therefore the first real discovery ^ according to Dr. Paley, 
who says, *he alone discovers who proves,' was given 
by Hev. Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, in 1828, of tracks at 
Annandale in. Scotland. In 1831, Mr. Scrope found and 
described a few in England, of Crustaceans, and in 1834 
Prof. Kaup described those of the Chirotherium in Ger- 
many. 

" It now seems to be settled beyond reasonable doubt, that 
the Connecticut river tracks were brought into notice as 
follows : In March, 1835, Mr. W. W. Draper, of Green-= 
field, walking home from church with his wife, noticed on 
some slabs of flagging stone, lying by the side-^walks, im- 
pressions, which he thus described to William AVilson, in 
front of whose house the slabs lay. ' Here are some tur- 
key tracks, made 3000 years ago.' Mr. Wilson soon after 
showed them to Dr. James Deane, who described them to 
me by letter the same week, as ' the tracks of a turkey in 
relief,' and offered to secure the slabs for me if I wished, 
which he did, and they are now suspended in a frame table 
(Nos. Y- antl ^-) so as to turn on an axis, and show both 
sides. I studied the subject through the summer of 1835, 
and in January, 1836, published in the American Journal 
of Science and Art an account of seven species of tracks. 
In the six following years, including the paper just named, 
,1 published five papers in the Journal, containing over' a- 
hundred pages and twenty-six plates, describing? thirty-two 
G 



62 -visitors' guibb. 

species. Up to that time (1842) no one else had 
described a single species. I took the ground that these 
tracks were made by birds, and hence called them orni- 
thichnites, or stony Urd-trachs. But my views were not 
generally received by scientific men, even so far as to allow 
the impressions to be tracks at all. Yet in 1841, five emi- 
nent geologists, who had been appointed to examine the 
subject by the American Association of Geologists and 
Naturalists, reported that ' the evidence entirely favors 
the views of Professor Hitchcock.' A few years more 
and there was a general acquiescence in those views. 

"Up to this time (1862), I have published about five 
hundred and fifty pages, three hundred and sixty of them 
quarto, with one hundred and sixteen plates, on the Ichno- 
logy of the Connecticut, in eleven communications in the 
American Journal of Science, one in the Transactions of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and two 
Reports to the Government of Massachusetts. In my first 
paper, I "described seven species ; in my Final Report on 
the Geology of Massachusetts, twenty-seven species ; in 
my paper before the American Academy, fifty-two species ; 
and in my Report on the Ichnology of New England, in 
1858, one hundred and nineteen species. Other writers, 
also, particularly Dr. James Deane, Dr. John C. Warren, 
William C. Redfield, Esq., and Sir Charles Lyell, have 
given descriptions and illustrations of these objects ; but as 
they have not attached names to the species, I cannot say 
how many they have described." 

With these preliminaries from Dr. Hitchcock's notes, we 
now proceed to notice such of the interesting specimens as 
can be understood and appreciated without too much scien- 
tific detail. Such as would be glad to understand all the 
curious things in this cabinet, will find them detailed in the 
Report on Ichnology, whose publication by the Govern- 
ment of Massachusetts in such superior style, whatever be 
its merits, is a fine illustration of the liberality of the State 
towards scientific objects. How this act is appreciated in 
Europe may be seen in a review of the Ichnology in the 
North British Review. 

As he enters the cabinet, the visitor had better pause at' 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 63 

the entrance, and take a general view of its contents. He 
will see several large slabs, and some small ones, placed 
on their edges, crosswise of the room, all covered with 
tracks of various sizes. He will here get a good idea of 
their appearance in the quarries whence they came. He 
will see, however, that on some slabs all the tracks are 
raised, or in relief, and all on others depressed, and he may 
not at first see the reason of it ; for he would perhaps 
expect that all tracks would be depressed. But suppose 
an animal, as it trod on the soft mud (and thus the tracks 
must have been made), bent down the layers to the depth 
of several inches, and that mud should be hardened into 
stone, and these layers be split apart. The under side, 
if turned up, would show the tracks in relief, correspond- 
ing to the depression on the other side. And sometimes 
several layers of stone may be split apart in this manner, 
and thus a stony volume be formed having several leaves to 
it, which may be fastened together on the back, and open 
as a book. Quite a variety of this kind of literature may 
be seen in the cabinet, from the ponderous folio down to 
the tiny 24mo. 

The tables and the upright and horizontal cases in these 
rooms are numbered from one to fifty ; and these numbers 
form the numerators of fractions, while the individual speci- 
mens on the tables form the denominators in the descrip- 
tion and in the Report on Ichnology. The numbering of 
the tables commences at the east or farther end of the hall, 
and proceeds westerly ; then the upright cases on the left- 
hand side of the gallery are numbered the other way ; then 
we come back again to the side room and pass around the 
walls, and finally into the lecture-room, where are a few 
large slabs. This order is somewhat irregular, but as the 
different animals that made the tracks did not walk along 
according to any zoological system", it is impossible to con- 
form the arrangement of the tables to any such system. 
Upon every row of tracks, and for the most j)art upon every 
individual track, the name of the animal by which it was 
made is given in print. And though in many cases its 
nature is quite uncertain, yet the name is so constructed as 
to be equally good, whatever its nature turns out to be. 



64 ' VISITORS^ GUIDE. 

All the animals that made the tracks are comprehended 
in the New England Ichnology, under the general term 
Lithichnozoa ; which means stone-track animals. These 
are ' sub-divided into ten groups, corresponding essentially 
to the great classes of animals, vertebrate and invertebrate, 
as described by zoologists. Some of the groups, however, 
are modified in name to correspond to a curious fact, found 
to be true as to most of the old fossil animals, viz. that they 
were intermediate in character between two and sometimes 
three or four of the existing classes. Thus, our fourth 
group is called Ornithoid Lizards, or Batrachians, which 
means that though upon the whole. they were probably 
lizards or batrachians, they had some characters now found 
in birds. "We will now refer to specimens in the cabinet, 
where the visitor will see examples of the different classes. 

Some, however, may visit the cabinet who doubt whether 
these impressions are tracks at all. We advise such to go 
first to the east part of the room, and look into the side 
case. No. 40, where they will see numerous specimens of 
the tracks of man, the dog, the crow, the snipe, etc., as well 
as rain-drops on hardened clay, from the banks of Con- 
necticut river, in Hadley. In fact, we have on the clay a 
full counterpart of the tracks on stone. 

While in this part of the cabinet the visitor will do well 
to look into the next case, No. 39, where he will see sev- 
eral varieties of rain-drops on stone, and some on bricks, 
for comparison. Larger specimens may be seen in other 
parts of the room, especially in the side room. Some of 
these are in relief, and others depressed, just like the tracks. 

We advise the visitor, if he have time, to move about 
the cabinet with a view of looking at some 'of the numer- 
ous rows of tracks on the slabs, as for instance No. -f-Q and 
f . These rows, with right and left feet, produce generally 
a strong conviction that they were made by the tread of 
animals over soft mud. 

If the visitor goes back to the west door, and looks in- 
ward, he will have just before him a specimen on its edge, 
and others lying near by, with the label. Nature's Hiero- 
glyphics. These are probably examples of mud cracked 
by drying, and the cracks subsequently filled by similar 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 65 

mud. They are from New Jersey and Turner's Falls. 
A little to the right stands a table covered with glazed 
frames in the form of a roof, and nearly filled with fossil 
volumes, such as have been described, and the whole, there- 
fore, labelled the Stony Library. Most of the volumes 
are two-leaved, but some have three or four leaves,^and one 
even five. This, at the south end of the case, and spread 
open, shows two tracks extending through five layers of 
stone, each nearly an inch thick. It is the most remarka- 
ble example known, and cost some $35 at auction. 

Just beyond the stony library stands a wooden frame 
with the two slabs (Nos. Jj^- and -^g®-), from Montague. That 
first called Dr. Hitchcock's attention to Ichnology. They 
form a huge folio with two leaves and four pages. 

A little beyond stands a small centre-table with a single 
track of Brontozoum giganteum upon it, in two leaves 
(No. -\8-). This is the only case in the cabinet where the 
counterparts of this gigantic track are seen. No. ^^-, how- 
ever, shows one almost as large of Tridentipes ingens. 

In contrast, may be- seen in the side case. No. 36, a sin- 
gle example of a volume of two leaves of an insect track, 
almost too small for the naked eye. We have no other 
specimens of this sort. 

Other volumes of various sizes will be, seen in various 
parts of the cabinet, some bound and some unbound. 

GROUP I. MARSUPIALOID ANIMALS. 

Marsupials, such as the kangaroo and the opossum, are 
the lowest in organization among existing quadrupeds or 
mammiferous animals, and these were the earliest quadru- 
peds that appeared on the globe. Marsupialoid animals 
are animals that resemble marsupials, but may not be such. 
Out of the fifty -five four-footed animals whose tracks are 
in the cabinet, only five are called in the Ichnology Mar- 
supialoids. One variety is called Cunoid Mai^sujnaloids 
(No. -2^-), because the tracks considerably resemble those 
of a dog. A second variety is the Ornitfioid, or bird-like 
Marsupialoids. Of these there are two species, Anomoe- 
pus major and minor. 

6* 



Q6 VISITORS GUIDE. 

To bring out the characters of these last tracks, has cost 
more labor than those of any other in the cabinet. Nearly- 
all the peculiarities are exhibited on a remarkable slab in 
the side-room, No. -Y-. At first view the slab seems cov- 
ered over with the tracks of a three-toed bird, in four or 
five distinct rows, showing the right and left feet ; but on 
one of the rows, after a succession of several three-toed 
tracks, without heels, suddenly two long-heel traces appear, 
attached to two of them, which are nearly opposite to each 
other, as if the animal had stopped and brought to the 
ground its long heels. Besides, a little in front, are two 
much smaller five-toed tracks, showing that the animal had 
small fore feet not usually employed in walking. After 
resting on its fore feet and heels, it resumed its usual mode of 
walking on the toes of its hind feet, leaving tracks exactly 
like those of a bird. Occasionally there is the trace of a tail. 
Moreover, in another place on the slab the animal seems to 
have gone forward by a leap with its hind feet ; so that it 
seems to have had several modes of moving forward. 
Other specimens, such as ^-, -^f, and ||, confirm these 
conclusions. 

Anomoepus major (No. \ and ^) is remarkable for the 
striking resemblance of its hind foot, independent of the 
heel, to a bird's foot, and for a peculiar tail trace, which 
consists of a heart-shaped impression, that is repeated at 
intervals (No. -\'^-), as if the animal lifted up a blunt ap- 
pendage at each step or leap, and brought it down again. 

The Loricoid Marsupialoids, or such as have feet on the 
plan of the crocodile, have left numerous small and beau- 
tiful tracks in great abundance, such as Nos. '^f-^ ^-^-, -f-f, |-f . 
The specimens on the wall of the side room, Nos. ^^-, ^^-, ^/-, 
show beautiful rows of these tracks, nearly on a right line, 
to make which must have_ required a long-legged animal, 
and could hardly have been made by a lizard or batrachian 
such as now live. 

If the preceding were marsupials, and not lizards or 
batrachians, then probably some of the other twenty-five 
species in the cabinet with unequal feet were also marsu- 
pials, as is made probable in a paper published in the pro- 
ceedings of the American Association for the Advancement 
of'Science for 1800, p. 154. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 67 



GROUP II. THICK-TOED BIRDS. 

Fourteen species of them are described in the Ichnology 
whose tracks vary in length from two and five-tenths inches 
to eighteen inches. The toes are not only thick, but ex- 
hibit several rounded expansions, corresponding, it is sup- 
posed, to the phalanges of the toes ; and their number (two 
on the inner, three on the middle, and four on the outer) 
corresponds to those of birds. We have been led of late 
to doubt whether there is not a mistake as to this matter ; 
but if not, the argument is quite strong to prove these four- 
teen animals to have been birds. And even if this argument 
should fail, we think this conclusion would still be probable. 

Brontozoum giganteum, or the giant Brontes, shows the 
largest of these tracks, and the cabinet abounds with them. 
l and j; show rows of them from Northampton. Table 15 
has numerous single tracks upon it. No. Y- ^^^^^ ^ gallon 
of water. \^ was the first track of this species that was 
discovered, and was at first thrown away because it was not 
thought possible that so large a track could exist. But 
this specimen was afterwards figured in the American Jour- 
nal of Science, and in Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise. 
Some good single tracks of this species may be seen on 
the walls of the side room. Its stride was from thirty to 
sixty inches ; its height not less than twelve feet ; and its 
weight from four hundred to eight hundred pounds. Table 
No. 7 shows the largest tracks and the longest stride of 
this species. 

Near the middle of the room there is suspended from 
the ceiling the leg of the great Moa, or dinornis, lately 
discovered in the alluvium of New Zealand, where it may 
have hved within a few hundred years. The two upper 
bones, the femur and the tibia, are wooden models of bones 
in other cabinets. But the lower piece, the tarso-meta- 
tarsal anclf the foot, excepting three of the phalanges, are 
true bone, from New Zealand. Not far distant hangs the 
model of an egg of a still larger bird, the Aepyornis, from 
Madagascar ; the original of which is in Paris. Both these 
birds must have been nearly as large as the brontozoum. 



68 visitors' guide. 

The smaller species of this group = — some of them not 
much smaller — are scattered bj hundreds through the 
cabinet. They are the most common, and upon the whole 
the most perfect, of all the tracks in the valley. Yet in the 
thousands that have been found, neither a fourth toe nor a 
fore foot have been noticed. Hence the conclusion seems 
very fair that the animals must have been three-toed bipeds. 
In the most perfect specimens, also, the toes show a definite 
number of expansions, as already mentioned, correspond- 
ing to the G-rallatores among birds. The finest slabs for 
showing these parts are Nos. -^^ and ^^-. The first shows 
forty-eight tracks of Brontozoum Sillimanium, sis of Bron- 
tozoum exsertum, and three trails of an Annelid. The 
distinctness of the claws and phalangeal impressions is re- 
markable. It was from Middletown, Ct., where it has lain 
sixty years in the sidewalk ; it cost one hundred dollars, and 
is, perhaps, the gem of the cabinet. No. ^- was from Tur- 
ner's Falls, and shows the phalanges finely ; cost one hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. The Amblyonyx on this slab seems 
to have had winged claws. 

On No. ^ is an interesting row of Grallator cursorius, 
exceedingly resembling the tracks of a long-legged wading 
bird. It is apt to be overlooked. 

There are a few examples in the cabinet where even the 
delicate strias and papillce on the animal's foot . are visible 
on the track. One of them is on a single track from Weth- 
ersfield, Ct., of Brontozoum giganteum. No. |^, where both 
stride and papilla? are shown. No. ^- exhibits distinctly 
the minute strias running across the ball of a boy's foot, 
on clay from Hadley. But perhaps the best specimen 
is upon several tracks of the Anomoepus, on slab No. ^^-. 
These specimens show how minute and exact is the infor- 
mation conveyed by these impressions. 

Supposing the thirteen animals of this group to have 
been birds, and to be now tracking; alono; the shores of the 
Connecticut, the smallest of them as large as a turkey, and 
the largest from twelve to fifteen feet high, two or three 
times as large as an ostrich ! Would that we only had 
them in our cabinet ! Yet they were once living contem- 
poraries in this valle3^ Nay, the largest of them once 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 69 

walked in flocks along the river's bank in Northampton, as 
is shown by their parallel rows of tracks. 

GROUP III. NARROW-TOED BIRDS. 

Seventeen species of narrow-toed birds, with three or 
four toes, are represented in the cabinet according to the 
Iclmology. The evidence of their having been birds is not 
as strong as in respect to the last group, because no pha- 
langeal impressions remain. Still some of the tracks can- 
not be distinguished from those of living birds ; and if there 
were thick-toed birds in those ancient times, there were, 
doubtless narrow-toed ones, as in existing nature. 

The largest tracks of this group may be seen on slabs 
Nos. V- ^i^cl -1/-, which shows Argozoum redfieldianum, and 
Nos. If and K^-, which is Tridentipes ingens. 

The slabs of the Argozoum show, also, specimens of the 
fecal remains of the animal, usually called coproiite. Some 
detached specimens of the same may be seen in Nos. f |, 
f f , and f I of the upright cases. These are the only other 
relics of the Lithichnozoa besides their tracks that have yet 
been found. For although we have two examples of skel- 
etons from the sandstone, they were found so far from any 
strata containing tracks, that there may have been no 
connection between the two facts. 

Other slabs of supposed narrow-toed birds, of smaller 
size, may be seen on slabs Nos. I, Tridentipes insignis ; -V- 
and V-^ Tridentipes elegans ; ||, Platypterna deaniana ; 
-\9 , Platypterna gracilior ; and ^-, Ornithopus gracilior. 

GROUP IV. ORNITHOID LIZARDS OR BATRACHIAKS. 

The most remarkable of these is the Gigantitherium 
caudatuum, on slabs | and x%. This track shows three 
huge fore toes, with a small lateral one coming out from 
the heel, and the animal walked nearly on a right line. 
We should suppose it a huge four-toed bird. But there is 
a distinct tail trace, showing that it ceuld not have been a 
bird. Yet no fore foot has been found. It may have been 
a biped lizard or batrachian, or one with very small fore 
feet, which were seldom brought clown to the ground. 



70 visitors' guide. 

" What shall we say of such a giant," observes Dr. 
Hitchcock, " combining perhaps the characters of most of 
the vertebrate kingdom ; especially if, as yet appears, he 
was a biped ! What being has been brought to light on 
the globe, or I might almost say in the dreams of mythol- 
ogy, more extraordinary than this ancient inhabitant of 
Massachusetts?" (Ichnology, ^. 107.) 

Nos. -^ and ^^- show rows of Hyphepus fieldi ; the lat- 
ter, eleven tracks with a tail trace. The tracks have the 
same form as the. Gigantitherium, but appear to have 
had a web. The foot is decidedly ornithoid in appearance. 

No. ^-, in the side room, shows the hind and fore feet 
of Tarsodactylus, which had unequal feet, and its toes 
dragged as it walked, as did also the tail, all of which are 
seen on the slab. Its hind feet resemble those of a bird. 

Still more so do the stout hind feet of the Apatichnus, a 
good specimen of which may be seen on slab No. ^£- in 
a row of twelve tracks. The small fore foot is so seldom 
seen that it was long entirely overlooked, and the animal 
supposed to be a bird ; but it turns out to be only ornithoid, 
and was probably a lizard or batrachian. 

Still more like a bird was the Plesiornis, as its name 
implies, seen on slabs Nos. ^^- and i|. Here the three 
principal toes, both of the hind and fore feet, very closely 
resemble those of a bird ; but the fore feet are somewhat 
smaller than the others. The toes of the hind feet of 
No. ^rf- are also terminated by pellets instead of claws, like 
most frogs. Hence we call the animal an ornithoid batra- 
chian. 

In this place is introduced an anomalous track, quite 
unlike that of any living animal. It is Typopus abnormis, 
shown on slabs Nos. ^^-, \^-, \%, and |-f . The name means 
type-foot, from its resemblance especially to some Oriental 
languages, say the Syriac. Every other track in our spec- 
imens is turned aside from the line of direction, some fif- 
teen degrees more than its alternate. " I was once," says 
Dr. Hitchcock, " showing the specimens to an eminent 
Boston physician, and inquired of him how he could ex- 
plain this fact. ' The animal,' he replied, ' had its leg 
broken, and there were no good surgeons in those days to 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 71 

set it.' This was just the reply I expected ; since the 
same thought had been forced upon myself." {Ichnology^ 
p. 106.) 

GROUP V. — LIZAKDS. 

Probably some of the seventeen specimens of lizards 
described in the Ichnology as being in the cabinet by their 
tracks, may turn out to be batrachians ; for it is not easy 
to distinguish between them by their tracks. Indeed, in 
the community generally, living lizards are not always 
distino-uished from batrachians. The crocodiles and alliga- 
tors are regarded as no more lizards than the newts and 
salamanders, although the naturalists call the latter batra- 
chians. 

The largest lizard designated, by its tracks is the Pole- 
marchus, Nos. f |, ff, and f f, which means a leader in 
war ; as he might have been if in other respects as well 
armed as his feet were. The track somewhat resembles 
that of a crocodile, but was much larger. It may have 
been the giant crocodile of Chicopee ; for there was the 
track found. 

The tracks of other and smaller lizards may be seen on 
Nos. If, -|§, f f , and f |, which are Plectropterna minitans ; 
ISros.-\2-j If, -\i-, and -%!-, Plectropterna gracilis ; Nos. ||, f |, 
|§, If, and II, Plectropterna augusta ; Nos. ||, |f , and ||, 
Plectropterna lineans ; Nos. -^g^-, %\ to |J-, and |^ to ||-, Tri- 
senopus leptodactylus ; Nos. f ^ to f |, and -S^^-, Xiphopeza 
triplex ; Nos. f and -^g^-, Orthodactylus floriferus, a beautiful 
species ; Nos. ^^^ ^.^-, and J^^-, Antipus bifidus, a singular 
but doubtful species ; Nos. ^.^ ^^-^ f ^, h]-, and f J-, Chimcera 
barrattii, etc. 

GROUP VI. BATRACHIANS. 

Such specimens are arranged in this group as show a 
resemblance to the frog tribe. The singular and beautiful 
specimens shown on slabs f, f|, f |, y^^, j%, ^^3, f, etc., and 
which attract every one's attention, have been supposed to 
be the mud-nests of tadpoles, which are frogs in a larva 



72 visitors' atjiBE. 

state. That tadpoles at this day do make precisely such 
holes in mud l?eneath the water, is proved by Nos. ^-^- and 
^^-, which are dried mud, hardened by glue, scooped up 
from the bottom of a small pond in Hadley meadows, 
inhabited by tadpoles. The specimens in rock are from 
South Hadley Falls. 

Nos. f , f , f , I, f and -j^^^ exhibit the most gigantic of all 
the tracks, those of the Otozoum moodii. They are twenty 
inches long and thirteen to fifteen inches broad, covering 
more than a square foot of surface, and probably there was 
ti web extending even beyond the toes. The long slabs, 
f and f , show a succession of the right and left feet, one 
row depressed and the other in relief. The foot had four 
toes and they were terminated by pellets instead of claws. 
One slab, No. j\, shows that the animal had small five-toed 
fore feet, though usually it walked like a biped on two 
hind feet. It also most probably had a tail. It may have 
been a marsupial ; but the pellets of its toes look more like 
a batrachian. It was probably intermediate. Most of the 
specimens are from South Hadley, but the animal lived 
also at Portland in Connecticut, and at Turner's Falls. 

" Imagine now a collection of Otozoums walking or sport- 
ing along the muddy shore ; animals approaching the ele- 
phant in size, yet allied to the frog tribe, or perhaps the 
salamanders. At a little distance you can imagine a grouj^ 
of the Gigantitherium family : and still further on, a group 
of Brontozoums. Which of these giants would be acknowl- 
edged as entitled to the first place, we cannot decide. But 
should a contest have arisen at any time for the supremacy, 
and these several leaders should have summoned the nu- 
merous lesser tribes around them to their aid, it would 
require another Milton to describe the scene." [Ichnology, 
p. 184.) 

The Selenichnus, or moon-track, so called, from its cres- 
cent shape, is well shown on Nos. ^^-, -\^-, and f f. Only 
the hind feet are distinct; but a small fore foot of the 
S. breviusGulus is shown on one specimen. ' This track is re- 
markable for the distinctness of the tail trace and the 
lunate form of the hind track. 

If the visitor wishes to see other good examples of tail 



traces),let him look at Nos. -^^-,-^^% and -%% in the lecture- 
room* 

GROUP VII. -— CHELOIflANS OR TORTOISES. 

There are no very striking tracks in this group, nor is 
their chelonian origin very certain^ The fore and the hind 
feet of Ancyropus are shown on the different leaves of the 
volumes, Nos. -2f ^^^ f I? in the stony library. Nos. || 
and t^ are delicate tracks of the genus Exocampe. Nos. 
:2|i^ jJi, and */- show little more than the trails of the shell 
and feet of what are supposed to have been tortoises. 

GROUP viii. — ^ fisSes» 

Living fisheS) as they swim near the bottom sometimes 
strike their fins against the mud or sand and leave furrows, 
sometimes striking only the crests of ripple marks. Nos. -2/- 
and If look as if made in the same way. Kirby mentions 
a fish, " perhaps a Loricaria, which has a bony ray before the 
ventral as Well as pectoral fins, and which creeps on all 
fours on the bed of the rivers, perhaps even when they are 
dry. These little quadruped fishes must cut a singular 
figure upon their four stilts." The siluroid fishes are well 
known for such habits, s5raetimes coming out of the water 
and passing over the dry land, and having a cavity in their 
heads for holding a supply of water. Perhaps Nos. %«-, -%^, 
If, and f § had such an origin, though no great confidence 
because its track can be felt in such an opinion. 

GROUP IX. CRUSTACEANS, MYRIAPODS, AND INSECTS. 

At present it seems useless to attempt to distinguish be- 
tween thos^ different classes of animals by their tracks. 

No. ^^- may have been a crustacean, like a lobster. We 
cannot doubt that it was made by some animal. This 
specimen Dr. Hitchcock took out of the sidewalk in Green- 
wich street. Now York. We call the animal Harpagopus, 
resembles a harrow, or drag. 

No. J^'i (Stratipes latus) is a larger animal of a similar 
kind, perhaps, from Turner's Falls. Its two rows of tracks 
7 



74 visitors' guide, 

are twenty inches apart, and the width of the trackway 
twenty-seven inches. Though arranged as a huge crusta- 
cean, the true nature of this animal is quite doubtful. 

No. ff (the Hamipes) is a smaller but very distinct 
track, with bifid extremities, like the stratipes. Nos. f |, 
vh f 95 -If> 14 J li and f f, may, in popular language, be 
called the tracks of insects. Yet none of them seem to 
have had more than four feet, while insects have six. No. 
f f is the smallest track in the cabinet ; hence called Bifur- 
culapes elachistotatus, — that is, less than the least, — a 
Greek phrase. These are so small that most persons would 
not notice them, though looking attentively at the slab. Yet 
the specimen shows four rows of tracks as distinct as any 
of the larger ones, which is true of nearly all these insect 
tracks. Whether they were made by insects, or crusta- 
ceans, or myriapods (allied to crustaceans), may be doubtful. 
But Nos. f I, ff (Lithographus), f f, f | (Hexapodichnus), 
and f f (Copeza), show six feet, and were therefore probably 
insects. 

It may be interesting to state, that at length numerous 
specimens of an insect in the larva state have been discov- 
ered near Turner's Falls, by Roswell Field. It is figured 
and described in the Ichnology, on page 8, under the name 
of Mormolucoides articiilatus, which Prof. Dana has lately 
changed, with Dr. Hitchcock's approbation, into Palephe- 
mera mediaevus. See specimens Nos. -\**-, -*2^-. 

GROUP X. ANNELIDS, OR WORMS. 

These embrace such animals as the earth-worm, or angle- 
worm, and many of the fossil specimens ' might easily be 
mistaken for modern ones, were they upon mud. Such 
are the Unisulcus, shown on Nos. VS ||, and |f . Other 

tinrl<? QTin'wn nn ISTn^s 3.5. 3_6_ 36_ 3.3. _9_ 3.3 3_Q. Qi-irl 3.6. 
JVlllUfe, bUUWll on ±>IUO. j^c), 40? 495 35? 14? 365 36? '*'"^ 1 5 » 

are most of them very peculiar, and much unlike existing 
Annelids. 

" Such," says Dr. Hitchcock, in his Ichnology, " was the 
fauna, of sandstone days, in the Connecticut valley. What 
a wonderful menagerie ! Who could believe such a regis- 
ter lay buried in the strata ? To open the leaves, to unroll 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 75 

the papyrus, lias been an intensely interesting though diffi- 
cult work, having all the excitement and marvellous devel- 
opments of romance. And yet the volume is only partly 
read. Many a new page, I fancy, will yet be opened, and 
many a new key obtained to the hieroglyphic record. I 
am thankful that I have been allowed to see so much by 
prying between the folded leaves. At first men supposed 
that the strange and gigantic races which I had described, 
v\^ere mere creatures of the imagination, like the gorgons 
and chimteras of the ancient poets. But now that hun- 
dreds of their foot-prints, as fresh and distinct as if yester- 
day impressed upon the mud, arrest the attention of the 
sceptic on the ample slabs of our cabinets, he might as 
reasonably doubt his own corporeal existence as that of 
these enormous and peculiar races." 

FOREIGN SPECIMENS. 

The cabinet .contains several specimens from other parts 
of our country and Europe, which may interest the visitor. 
One, No. -^^S from the Devonian rocks along Hudson river, 
has been already referred to. No. f f is a specimen of the 
Batrachopus primasvus, found by Dr. King in the carboni- 
ferous formation of southwestern Pennsylvania ; evidently 
an animal approaching the frog tribe in structure. Nos. 
11 to f 5-, are specimens of the Prototicbnites discovered 
by Sir William Logan in the Potsdam sandstone of Beau- 
hairnois, in Canada. These were doubtless crustaceans, 
and occur in what is usually thought to be in our country 
the oldest fossiliferous rocks. Nos. ff, fa ^ and f|, are 
specimens of the famous Chirotherium from Ilildburg- 
hausen in Saxony, discovered just about the same time as 
the tracks in the Connecticut valley. Nos. §§ and |^- arc 
specimens of the same kind of tracks from the Storeton 
quarries, near Liverpool in England. 



THE ADAMS ZOOLOGICAL CABINET. 

For this cabinet the College is mainly indebted to the 
exertions of the lamented Professor C. B. Adams. At the 



T6 visitors' guide. 

time of his death the Appleton Cabinet was not thought of, 
and these collections were scattered through three different 
rooms in the Chapel biiilding ; but so perfect was the ar- 
rangement of the specimens, that their order remains 
essentially the same as it was when Professor Adams left 
them. 

Before describing^ the specimens, or their an-angement, 
we will notice the history of the collection ; using, first, 
some notes prepared by Professor Adams in 1848. 

HISTORY. 

The materials with which the Zoological Museum of 
Amherst College has been commenced, were obtained from 
the following sources : 1. A legacy of Sylvester Hovey, 
formerly Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy 
in tliis College. Tins legacy consisted of about 700 spe- 
cies of shells, with numerous duplicates ; and by exchang- 
ing the latter, the number of species was raised to 1000, all 
of which were therefore virtually the gift of Prof. Hovey. 
2. Donations of a few, or of individual specimens from the 
students, alumni, and other friends of the college. One of 
the most valuable was the large Dolium melanostomura, pre- 
sented by the late Hon. William Kichards, of the Sandwich 
Islands. Of this magnificent shell but one other specimen, 
so far as the writer can learn, is known to science. Another 
valuable donation was a box of the large and beautiful in- 
sects of Batavia, by Capt. Samuel R. Gerry, of Marble- 
head ; also a collection of corals and shells from Ceylon, 
by Rev. John C Smith, of Ceylon, through Professor Snell. 
These corals are mostly of large size, and all of them are 
in a perfect state of preservation of all the details of sculp- 
ture. President Hitchcock has also presented a fine collec- 
tion of sea-fans, sponges, etc., of a great variety of forms, 
which were collected at Key West, by Dr. Blodget^ formerly 
of this town. A few skins of foreign birds were presented 
by Rev. Henry J. Van Lennep, of Constantinople. 3. The 
collections which belonged to Professor Adams, and which 
had been made during a period of twelve years by personal 
collection, exchanges, and purchases* 



AMIIEllST COLLEGE. 77 

These collections included the foUowinf^ materials : — 

m ZOOLOGY. 

Of Vertehraied Animals : A few stuffed specimens of 
mammals and of birds. 

About 200 specimens of reptiles and fishes, mostly 
from the United States and Jamaica, embracing about GO 
species. 

Of Mollusca : A series of the shells of Jamaica, 400 spe- 
cies, containing about 10,000 individuals. 

A general series of shells, 4400 species, represented bj 
about 500,000 individuals, including a few of the animals 
of this division, with a manuscript systematic and numeri- 
cal catalogue of most of the names, localities, etc., and about 
300 copies of a printed catalogue of the European and North 
American species. 

Duplicates for Exchanges : 1. Of Jamaica shells, an in- 
definite number, perhaps a million individuals, of which 
about 10,000 are of species which are in great demand for 
exchanges. 2. Several hundred thousand of North Amer- 
ican shells. 3. Several hundred of European shells. 4. 
Exotic shells (i. e. neither European nor North American), 
about 3000 specimens. 

Of Insects: 770 British species, mostly Coleoptera, named 
by Edward Doubleday, Esq., Entomologist of the British 
Museum. 

About 150 species North American Cincindelidee and 
CarabidjB, named by Dr. T. AV. Harris. 

Three hundred species of miscellaneous Coleoptera, named 
by Dr. J. G. Morris. 

About 10,000 S])ecimens of North American insects not 
named or arranged. 

About 10,000 specimens of North American insects placed 
in the hands of Dr. Harris to be named. 

Of Crustacea: About 100 specimens of 20 species, mostly 
from Jamaica. 

Of Echinodermota : About 100 specimens of 20 species, 
mostly from Jamaica ; a valuable collection. 

Several corals, sponges, etc., mostly from Jamaica. 

A Spongia patera from Singapore. 
7* 



78 VISITORS* GUIDE, 



IN BOTANY, 



About 1000 species, mostly from the Middle and "Wes- 
tern States, with some exotic species, named and arranged 
in the natural orders. 

A large collection of British plants, from E. Doubleday, 
Esq. 

Miscellaneous specimens of tropical plants from Jamaica, 
for illustrations in class exercises- 

IN PALEONTOLOGY. 

About 250 fossils, from Germany and from the Southern 

States. 

APPARATUS OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

Eighteen cases, containing 372 drawers. Insect boxes, 
nets, 10,000 insect pins, etc. Several gross of vials, tubes, 
etc., for small shells, boxes for same, with a dredge for 
marine objects. 

BOOKS OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

Monographia Apum Anglise ; Hanley's Continuation of 
Wood's Index Testaceologicus, about $20 ; Murchison and 
Verneuil's Geology of Russia, $46.50 ; Proceedings of 
Zoological Society, London, $20 ; Owen's Memoir of My- 
lodon, $10 ; Jones's Animal Kingdom ; Forbes's Star 
Fishes ; Boston Journal of Natural History, $24 ; so much 
of Keiner's Iconographia of Recent Shells as has been re- 
ceived up to this date; this book has cost $175. In short, 
such of the above, and the remainder of my books of Nat- 
ural History, as are not in the College Library. 

The means by which this private collection (valued at 
•Mu $5000) was obtained, it now seems necessary to describe. 

The collections obtained in person were made in this 
State, mostly in the eastern part, at various points of the 
coast, from Plum Island to New Bedford ; second, in Ver- 
mont, mostly in the valley of Lake Champlain, a region 
which is not surpassed, probably not equalled, in zoological 
riches, by any other part of the world in the same climate ; 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 79 

and third, in the Island of Jamaica. Small collections were 
also made in Maine, New York, Missouri, etc. All the 
insects, with the exceptions above specified, all the Jamaica 
shells, and most of the North American marine shells, were 
obtained by this means. 

Collections, by exchanges, have been made in a corres- 
pondence with about fifty naturalists and collectors in Eng- 
land, Bremen, Bavaria, Baden, France, Sicily, Greece, 
Persia, Hindostan, thp Sandwich Islands, in Jamaica, and 
in ten of the United States. The most valuable additions 
have been made by the University of Heidelburg, through 
Professor H. J. Bronn, the distinguished palasontologist. In 
exchanging North American for European shells, with this 
university, the rule of exchange has been for each party to 
send an equal number of species, and in the total of speci- 
mens not exceeding over twenty-five specimens in any one 
species. The value of this exchange is due to this rule, in 
connection with the long standing of the correspondence. 
The most common species have been exhausted long since, 
and those which are more rare are now requisite in its pro- 
gress. By this means have been obtained nearly all the 
species of the shells of the southern half of Europe which 
exist in the cabinet of that university, in addition to the 
numerous others received from other correspondents. 
Another valuable correspondent has been that prince of 
collectors, H. Cuming, Esq., of London, whose personal 
collections along the western shores and islands, and in the 
western countries of South America, in the Philippine Isl- 
ands, etc., mostly, although not exclTlsively, of shells, have not 
only not been equalled by those of any other naturalist, but 
have doubled the whole number of species previously known 
to science. To Mr. C.'s liberality in exchange, the collec- 
tion was indebted for the most beautiful and valuable part 
of the land shells, viz. most of the Philippine species of the 
genera Buhmus and Helix. An excellent print of this 
gentleman may be seen on the south side of the Zoological 
Cabinet. 

Mr. Doubleday, the Entomologist of the British Museum, 
has been mentioned, from whom the fine collection of British 
Coleoptera was obtained, in exchange for a suite of the 



80 VISITORS GUIDE* 

shells of Jamaica. Mr, Henry Dimond, of Honolulu in 
the Sandwich Islands, has also been a very liberal and valu- 
able correspondent, having furnished such an extensive 
series of the shells of those islands as none but an experi- 
enced collector and naturalist could have procured, with 
such numbers of duplicates as not only to enrich the collec- 
tion with numerous varieties of each species, but also to 
furnish materials for other exchanges. For the deep-sea 
species of the shells of New England we have been 
indebted to J. W. Mighels, M. D., formerly of Portland, 
now of Cincinnati, who furnished a series scarcely equalled 
in value by his own. To J. G. Anthony, Esq., of Cincin- 
nati, Col. A. Bourne, of Chillicothe, O., Lieut. John H. Allen, 
formerly of Chillicothe and now of Baltimore, and espe- 
cially to Rev. J. B. Lindsley of Nashville, Prof. Adams 
was indebted for the means of illustrating most of the 
beautiful and numerous species of the shells of the Western 
States, with very numerous varieties of each. Did our 
limits permit, we should be happy to mention, wdth high 
commendation, numerous other correspondents. 

A large portion of the shells of the East Indies, and 
many from the Polynesian Islands, were obtained by pur- 
chases from dealers, and from seamen and their friends. 
Formerly great numbers were brought home by seamen, 
and by them given away or sold for small sums. But for 
several years past the number brought in^has greatly dimin- 
ished, owing in part, it is said, to the extravagant sums 
paid for these objects by officers in the French and espe- 
cially in the English na\^. 

The donations made to this collection while it was private 
were inconsiderable, and bear no proportion to those which 
were made from it. 

Subsequently to the original offer of this collection, — 
and before the opening of the Zoological Museum, by 
about seven hundred species of the Coleopterous insects, 
named ,by Di'- J- E. LeConte, of New York City, whose 
well-known -accuracy and extent of knowledge in this most 
difficult branch of Natural History has thus greatly in- 
creased the value of this portion of the collection, — the 
lanje and valuable collection of insects which had been for 



AMHERST COLLEaE. 81 

several years in the hands of Dr. Harris for a similar pur- 
pose, was obtained, with a few of the species named, but a 
large portion had entirely perished. With duplicates in 
the above collections the Curator has procured seventy 
specimens of sixty-six species of Massachusetts birds from 
Dr. Simeon ShurtlefF, of Westfield, an alumnus of the class 
of '32. These were prepared and mounted by Dr. S., in a 
style which requires no other praise than exhibition. The 
usual processes of exchange have also resulted in the addi- 
tion of a few hundred species of shells. 

CONDITIONS OF PROFESSOR ADAMS'S GIFTS. 

Several important conditions accompanied this valuable 
gift of Professor Adams, which are presented in the follow- 
ing letter to President Hitchcock : — 

MlBDLEBURY, Vt., Oct. 7, 1847. 

Eev. and Dear Sir: — On the 23d of Auo:ust last I prepared for 
you a statement of my collection of books and specimens in natural 
history, which I propose to give to Amherst College, on certain condi- 
tions; Avhich conditions were to be subsequently matured. Having 
reflected further on this subject, I now make the otfer of the prop- 
erty named in that communication as a gift to Amherst College, on 
the following conditions : — 

1. A fund not less in value than the above-mentioned gift, viz. 
$5000, or more, shall be established. 

2. The income of this fund, and such additions as may be made to 
it, shall be used forever for increasing the collections of books of nat- 
ural history and of specimens in natural history belonging to Amherst 
College. 

3. This expenditure shall be made by myself during my official 
connection with the college; and subsequently by the officer or offi- 
cers of instruction who shall have the charge of the department of 
natural history, and shall be subjected to such regulations as the 
Trustees of the College may deem requisite to secure its faithful 
appropriation to the objects specified above. 

4. The words "increase of books and specimens" are not intended 
to include the care and exhibition of the same; but this may be inclu- 
ded in case the general treasury of the college shall be embarrassed 
with debt. 

5. So much of the income as shall not be expended within three 
years after it accrues shall be added to the principal. 

6. This fund shall be established on the first day of February, A. D. 
1848. 

The gift, with these conditions, is made with a view to contribute in 
some small degree to the exhibition of the glorious plan of creation, 
especially of organic beings, as this exists in the mind of the Creator. 

C. B. ADAMS. 
Kev. Edward Hitchcock, LL.D., 

President of Amherst College. 



82 ' visitors' guide. 

SUBSEQUENT HISTORY. 

Professor Adams, in 1847, removed to Amlierst, and 
immediately began to labor for the increase of the Zoologi- 
cal Cabinet. Every spare moment ^Yas devoted to this ob- 
ject with an untiring energy. The greatest exertion was 
spent upon perfecting the conchological part of the cabinet; 
and he succeeded so well that at the time of his death, in 
1853, it was considered one of the finest collections in the 
country. Indeed it is only recently (1861) that a similar 
notice of it has been made, in a history of American Con- 
chology, by George W. Tryon, Jr., member of the Academy 
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. The following ex- 
tract from the American Journal of Science and Arts 
(March, 1862), will give the substance of this notice : — 

" The splendid collection [of moUusca] belonging to Am- 
herst College is a noble monument of the unflagging assi- 
duity and scientific attainments of the late Professor C. B. 
Adams, who formed it. It embraces types of all his species, 
and full suites of the shells of the various West India Isl- 
ands and of Panama. It is esteemed by competent judges 
the most valuable collection for study in the United States." 

The number of new species of mollusca described by 
Prof. Adams was seven hundred. 

Besides the ordinary exchanges, Professor Adams made 
an excursion to Panama and Jamaica, subsequent to his 
connection with the College, and brought back with him 
large scientific treasures. This was in the winter of 
1849—50, and the results of his investigations upon the 
Panama shells were published in the Annals of the Nev/ 
York Lyceum of Natural History, an octavo volume of 
three hundred and twenty-five pages. During six weeks' 
exploration there he collected forty-one thousand eight hun- 
dred and thirty specimens of five hundred and sixteen 
species of mollusca, besides many radiate animals. His 
collections made in Jamaica w^ere no less extensive. 

Another excursion to the West India Islands was 
planned, and Prof. Adams had begun to collect upon the 
the Island of St. Thomas, but his early sickness and death 
put an end to his work. By this date (1853) the 



AMHERST COLLEaE, 83 

collection of mollusca had attained the number of eight 
thousand species. 

After Professor Adams's death the zoological depart- 
ment was transferred to Professor W. S. Clark, who labored 
efficiently for its weal, so far as his time and the means at 
his command would permit. All the larger stuffed speci- 
mens of the mammalia, as well as the botanical collec- 
tions, and many other specimens, were procured by him. 
During his administration the specimens were removed 
from the three rooms in the Chapel, in which they had been 
exhibited, and placed in their present location. Professor 
Clark also placed upon the w^alls of the Zoological Cabinet 
and the lecture-room various large paintings, designed to 
illustrate botany and zoology. 

In 1858 the present curator was appointed to take charge 
of the department of zoology, and the results of his labors 
have been ah'eady noticed in his Preliminary Report. 

METHOD OF ARRANGEMENT. 

There are two sorts of cases in the Zoological Cabinet, 
the horizontal and the upright. The former contain only 
the insects and shells of the mollusca. The latter contain 
specimens of all the branches of the animal kingdom, 
arranged in scientific order, except where a departure is 
made for the convenience of accommodating large speci- 
mens. 

The specimens in the upright cases are arranged accord- 
ing to the following system of classification. The lowest 
orders begin at the northeast corner of the room, and in 
proceeding w^estwardly the observer will inspect the next 
higher classes in regular succession. 

I. PROTOZOA. 

Class 1. Amorphozoa, the sponges ; Class 2. Forami- 
nifera, the rhizopods ; Class 3. Infusoria, including most of 
the animalcules. These are all confined to the first case. 

II. RADIATA. 

Class 1. Polypi, with two orders ; (a.) Halcyonoidse, the 



84 visti'ORs^ atJiBSs 

sea-fans ; (b.) Actinoidse, or stony corals generally* These 
two orders occupy the next two cases. 

Class 2» AcalephsBj with three orders ; (a.) Hydroidae, 
or fresh water polyps; (b.) Discophorse ; (c.) Ctenophorae, 
— band (c.) being known as jelly-fishes. Class 3. Echin- 
odermata, with four orders ; (a. ) Crinoidea^ or crinoids ; 
(L) Stellerida^ or star-fishes ; (c.) Echinidae, or sea-urchins ; 
(d.) Holothuriae» These two classes occupy the fourth 
case. 

III. MOLLUSCA. 

Class 1. Accephalata, with four orders; (a.)Bryozoa; 
(h.) Brachiopoda ; (c.) Tunicata ; (d.) Lamellibranchiata. 
Class 2. Gasteropoda, with three orders ; (a,) Pteropo- 
da; (5.) Heteropoda; (c.) Gasteropoda typica. Class 3. 
Cephalopoda, with two orders ; (a.) Tetrabranchiata ; (5.) 
Dibranchiata. 

In the horizontal cases the classification adopted is dif* 
ferent. The objects are arranged according to the Lamarc- 
kian system. The following is its outline, beginning at 
the highest part of the series and descending : "- 

Class 1. Cephalopoda, order (a.) Dibranchiata with tWo 
families, octopidse and sepiidae ; (6.) Tetrabranchiata with 
two families, nautilidae and ammonitidse* 

Class 2. Gasteropoda, with three orders ; («.) Tracheli- 
poda with twenty-one families, viz. cyprsedae, mitridae, 
purpuridae, magilidas, conidee, strombidee, muricidse, tur- 
binidse, littorinidae, halotidag, vermetidee, tornatellid^e, 
janthinidae, naticidae, neritidas, melanidae, paludinidge, phy- 
sidae, cyclostomidae, helicidae, and limacidse ; (b.) Gastero- 
poda typica with ten families; aplysiidse, bullidse, fissu- 
relida3, umbrellidas, dentalidge, patellidee, phyllidid^, doridee, 
eolidse, and calyptrseidee ; (c.) Heteropoda with one genu?, 
carinaria. 

Class 3. Pteropoda, with two genera, cleodora and hy- 
alaea. 

Class 4. Conchifera, with two orders ; (a.) Unimusculosa 
with three families, ostraeidge, pectenid^e, and aviculidas ; 
{b. ) Bimusculosa with seventeen families, viz. mytilidae, 
tridaclinidae, hippuritidae, chamidas, unionidae, arcidae, cardi- 



AMHERST COLLEai], 85 

idsQ, venidas, cyrenidae, tellinidse, petricolidae, mactridce, 
thracidas, myidse, solenidse, pholadidas, and aspergillidse. 

Class o. Tunicata. 

Class 6. Brachiopoda, with two orders ; (a.) those ani- 
mals having an articulated hinge to their shells, and (b.) 
those with an unarticulated hinge. 

Class 7. Cirrhopoda, with two orders ; (a.) Pedunculata; 
{b.) Sessilia. 

IV. ARTICULATA. 

Class 1. Vermes, or worms, with three orders ; (a.) Tre- 
matoda ; (b.) Nematoidea ; (c.) Annelida. 

Class 2. Crustacea, with five orders ; (a.) Rotatoria, or 
the wheel animalcules; (b.) Cirripedia, or the barnacles; 
(c.) Entomostraca ; (d.) Tetradecapoda ; (e.) Decapoda, the 
more common crabs and lobsters. 

Class 3. Insecta, with three orders; (a.) Myriapoda, the 
millepedes, etc. ; (b.) Archnida, the spiders ; (c.) Insectce, 
the true insects. 

The two most northern rows of horizontal cases contain 
Articulata, mostly arranged by Professor Adams. The fol- 
lowing is the classification of the insects adopted by him. 

Class Insecta. Orders: (a.) Coleopter'a, the beetles ; (b.) 
Forficulidce ; (c.) Orthoptera, grasshoppers ; (d.) Thysan- 
optera ; (e.) Neuroptera, dragon-flies ; (/.) Tricoptera, 
case-worm flies ; (g.) Hymenoptera, the bees, wasps, etc. ; 
(h.) Strepsiptera, the Avasp-flies ; (?'.) Lepidoptera, the 
butterflies, etc.; (y.) Homoptera ; (^\ ) Heteroptera ; (/.) 
Diptera, the fleas ; and [m.) Aphanoptera, or the lice 
tribe. 

V. vertebrata. 

Class 1 . Myzontes, with two orders ; (a. ) Myxinoida ; 
(b.) Cyclostomata. 

Class 2. Fishes proper, with two orders ; (a.) Ctenoids ; 
(b.) Cycloids. 

Class 3. Ganoids, with three orders ; (a.) Coelacanths ; 
(/x) Acipenseroids; (c.) Sauroids. The following are also 
placed here for the present : the Siluroids, Plectognaths, 
and Lophobranches. 



86 visitors' guide. 

Class 4. Selachians, with three orders ; {a.) Chimgeras ; 
(h.) Galeodes ; (c.) Batides. 

Class 5. Amphibians, with three orders; (a.) Cseciliae; 
{h.) Ichthyodi ; (c.) Anura. 

Class 6. Reptiles, with four orders ; {a.) Serpentes ; (h.) 
Saurii ; (c.) Rhizodonts ; (c?.) Testudinata. 

Class 7. Birds, with four orders ; {a.) Natatores ; (h.) 
Grallae ; {c.) Razores j (d.) Insessores, including Scansores 
and Accipitres. 

Class. 8. Mammalia, with three orders ; (ci.) Marsupialia ; 
{h.) Herbivora ; (c.) Carnivora. 

Most of the species have been, and it is to hoped that 
nearly all will soon be, labelled. Each label contains .the 
name of the species following the initial of the genus, with 
citation of the original author of the speciiic name, the 
name of the place or region in which the specimens were 
obtained, and the name of the donor. Other circumstances, 
of periods of growth, varieties, etc., are indicated in the label. 
Each species has a separate label ; and when a species is 
represented by varieties requiring separate notice, or by 
specimens from different localities, the specimens of each 
of such varieties and localities are labelled. 

The geographical distribution of the 'species is approxi- 
mately indicated by eight different colors of labels, which 
represent eight divisions of the earth's surface. These 
divisions are, the North American, the West Indian, the 
South American, the Pacific, tlie East Indian, the West 
African, the Siberian, and the European regions. The col- 
ors assigned to each of these zoological provinces may be 
seen on a map of the world. 

Description of the Speciniens. 

The first thing that attracts the attention of the visitor is 
the paintings upon the walls. Upon the west end of the 
room is represented an elephant, in the midst of tropical 
scenery. It appears to the best advantage when viewed 
from the east end of the room. So, too, the representations 
of Arctic scenery, and of a western buffalo hunt, over the 
stairs, appear best from the west end of tlie room. Upon 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 87 

the north side of the room are represented a South Ameri- 
can anaconda attempting to "charm" a parrot, and the huge 
African ape, the gorilla, the nearest approach of the animal 
kingdom to man. Inside of the large glazed case, near the 
stairs, is a representation of the scenery of a Northern winter, 
in which a moose is located. When this painting was exe- 
cuted, only a solitary moose occupied the case ; but now, 
since the accumulation of specimens, the scene is not so 
appropriate. 

This case is now devoted to the sub-order Ruminantia, 
or those animals that chew the cud. The two largest speci- 
mens are the American moose, Alee Americana, Jar dine. 
The stuffed skin is from Connecticut lake, N. IT., while the 
skeleton is from Ashland, Me., in the latitude of Quebec. 
Th^ bones were procured by Rev. M. R. Keep, of Ashland, 
and, after beino; cleaned, were mounted bv Prof. Edward 
Hitchcock, Jr., who has also mounted the greater part of 
the skeletons in the cabinet, — particularly the larger ones, 
— some of which are only deposited by him. 

The beautiful deer, the most common one in this country, 
the Cervus Virginiana, Boddaert, is from New York. The 
skeleton is from the West, and was presented by A. D. 
Phillips, Esq., of Deerfield. A series of the horns of the 
deer, showing the progress from year to year; also their 
appearance, when covered with hair and flesh, in their 
annual growth, are well shown by other specimens. Still 
other specimens, are the skull of the Indian ox (East In- 
dian) presented by Rev. Edward Webb, horns of the 
American buffalo, a musk deer from Java, etc. 

PROTOZOA AND EADIATA. 

In the first upright case, to the left of the ruminant ani- 
mals, are the Protozoa, in which will be seen one hundred 
and twenty-seven specimens of sponges, etc., of various 
forms and sizes. One very large bill-shaped specimen is 
worthy of special notice. These sponges have not yet been 
named. 

In the second case are the Halcyonoid corals, or the sea- 
fans, seventy-two specimens. Many persons would think 



88 visitors' guide, 

these specimens to be plants. They are some of the com- 
pound structures known as Zoophytes, plant animals ; so 
called, because they so greatly resemble plants. An im- 
mense number of minute animals live all over their stalks 
and branches, which, by their united action, deposit animal 
and calcareous matter, taking the shape of a growing tree, 
or other vegetable. If one part of the living dome, or 
house, be broken off or injured, all the animals in the vicin- 
ity will be affected also. Many of these fans are very 
beautiful, and exhibit very bright colors. They are largely 
from the West India Islands and the Florida Keys. 

In the third case are the Actinoid coral domes, or what 
are commonly known as coral. There are also Zoophytes, 
but are higher in the scale of animals than the Halcyonoids. 
The two hundred and ten specimens of them in the case 
exhibit all the more common varieties, and some of them 
are very beautiful. They are mostly from the same local- 
ities as the Halcyonoids. 

In the fourth case are the Acalephs and Echinoderms." 
Very few of the former are preserved, as it is almost im- 
possible to preserve them. The " Portuguese man of war," 
on the upper shelf, will give some idea of the class. Upon 
the two lower shelves are the Echinoderms, largely from 
Jamaica and Panama, Few marine animals appear more 
curious, to persons not familiar with the coast, than these 
singular bodies, completely covered with vertical spines. 
Those with the larger solid spines are not commonly pre- 
served in spirit ; hence the spines are separated from the 
body. But one specimen of this acrocladia, of a purple 
color, may be seen in a bottle, which will give an idea 
of the original appearance of the others. Upon the 
middle shelf is a valuable collection of Star-fish and Ophi- 
urans (Stellinda), largely from Jamaica and Panama. 
,Both the star-fishes and sea-urchins were named by Prof. 
Agassiz, and a number of new specimens obtained from 
him by exchange. The Holothuridae appear like great 
clumsy worms, and may be seen in bottles upon the upper 
shelf. In this case are 268 specimens of Echinoderms, 153 
of Star-fishes, and 38 of Holothuridse and Acalephse. 



AMIlilRST COLLEGE. 89 



MOLLUSCA. 

The fifth case is devoted to the Mollusca, to specimens 
of the animals themselves, in connection with their shells, 
and to large specimens, too large to be admitted into the 
horizontal cases. Upon the lower shelf are two valves of 
the great Tridachna gigas, the largest of all mollusca, and 
such as are used in European cathedrals as vases to hold 
holy water. These specimens are seven inches deep. Al- 
though the two parts are opposite valves, and nearly fit, 
they are odd valves, one weighing 102^-lbs., and the other 
1251^ lbs. The entire shell to which the latter belonged, 
must, therefore, have weighed about 250 lbs., half the weight 
of the largest sj)ecimen that has been seen. 

Upon the second shelf are several large shells, among 
which is an unusually large specimen of the Fusus arua- 
nus, which is the largest of the univalve shells. Upon the 
third shelf are a large number of molluscous animals, mostly 
deposited by Professor Shepard ; also an ornamental basket, 
prepared by George H. Coit, an alumnus of the class of 
1852. A few specimens may be seen here of the eggs of 
large land shells, about as large as the eggs of the warblers 
among birds, upon the opposite side "of the room. It may 
seem strange to some that snails should lay eggs ; but this 
manner of reproduction is by no means confined to birds, 
since, in one way. or another, it is the normal mode among 
all the classes of the animal kingdom. Upon the upper 
shelf may be seen a fev^ specimens of Cephalopoda, or 
cuttle-fishes and squids. 

ARTICULATA. 

The sixth case is devoted to Articulata. Upon the two 
lower shelves may be seen specimens of the nests of the 
hornet, yellow wasp, and Ceylonese spiders. The latter 
are the most interesting, consisting of a long cylinder of 
earth, having a lid at the upper end, vv'hich is closed when- 
ever the inhabitants are threatened by an enemy, or are 
indisposed to receive their friends. Upon the third shelf 
are numerous dried specimens of hermit crabs and king crabs. 
8* 



90 VISITORS GUIDE. 

The latter (Limulus polyphemus) are interesting, because 
they are the nearest approach of living animals to the an- 
cient Trilobites, so abundant in the early periods of our 
planet. Upon the upper shelf are numerous specimens of 
tape-worms, hair-snakes, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, 
spiders, crabs, etc. A specimen of a crab, in a glass case, 
is interesting on account of its collector. It was obtained 
by Rev. Henry Lyman, who was murdered by the Battas 
in 1834. Quite a number of other specimens in the cabinet 
were presented by the same gentleman, which were col- 
lected by him. among those inhospitable isles. 

FISHES. 

The next two cases are occupied by what the older zool- 
ogists called Fishes, but which are now subdivided into 
several classes, as given above. Upon the lower shelf of 
the seventh case may be seen a large sturgeon, a number 
of dried South Carolina and West India fishes, the verte- 
brae of a shark, etc. Upon the second shelf is a large 
number of dried and stuffed specimens of American fish, 
among which is the gar-pike ; this, with the alligator gar 
above, are representatives of ancient Ichthyic animals, now 
mostly extinct. They have the heterocercal tail, or the 
lobes of unequal size, as was the case with all the fish 
earlier than the Triassic period. The alligator gar is a 
beautiful animal, upon the third shelf, and is from Lake 
Pontchartrain, near New Orleans. Upon the same shelf is 
a large number of Jamaica fishes preserved in spirit, the 
sword of the sword-fish (by whose side is placed a small 
head of the same species, in order to illustrate the size of 
the larger one), the saws of the saw-fish, pipe-fish, large 
eels from the Indian ocean, etc. The jars upon the upper 
shelf contain Jamaica fishes chiefiy, among which is the 
curious hammer-headed shark. 

On the lower shelf of the eighth case is a large number 
of tails of the sting ray, with a small shark, etc. Upon 
the second shelf are sharks' jaws, a shark from the Indian 
ocean, and a ray-fish from the same waters. This is a 
small specimen, although quite large, as may be seen by 



AMHERST COLLEOE. 91 

comparing its tail with the tails of the sting ray below, 
which came from a similar animal. Upon the next shelf 
are more sharks' jaws, among which is the jaw of the 
Carcharias Atwoodi, from Provincetown, an animal very 
rarely found in our waters, — the true man-eating shark. 
Here are many specimens of the Diodon, a curious animal, 
having protuberances, like horns, in front ; also the sea- 
hedgehogs, which must be very uncomfortable for intimate 
friendship. One can, by examining the countenances of these 
formidable animals, easily trace resemblances to human faces. 
Upon these two shelves are many fishes from Lake Cham- 
plain and the Connecticut valley, in spirit, the former 
presented by Mr. Averill, the generous proprietor of the 
Highgate Springs in Vermont. More Lake Cham plain 
fishes appear upon the upper shelf, in company with dio- 
dons, dog-fish, rays, etc. We should not forget to notice 
the Echeneis maceratus, which is a parasite of the shark. 
One can easily see that his mouth is fitted only to suck out 
the juices of other animals in a parasitic way. 

AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES. 

The ninth and tenth cases are occupied by Amphibia 
and Reptiles. Upon the lower shelf of the ninth case is a 
large quantity of frogs and toads in spirit, a frog's skeleton 
from Europe, salamanders, the skin of an immense boa- 
constrictor from southeast Africa, etc. A Menobranchus 
from Cayuga lake, N. Y., represents that extraordinary 
group of reptiles which retain through life their beautiful 
feathered organs of aquatic respiration. Upon the second 
shelf is a small alligator, with several of the young, and a 
couple of eggs ; also a series of Amphibians from Penn- 
sylvania. A large number of snakes occupy the third shelf, 
among which is a beautiful skeleton and stuffed specimen 
of the South Carohna rattlesnake. The identical skeleton 
belonging to the stuffed specimen lies by its side ; also sev- 
eral loose fangs. The shape of the mouth, also tlie posi- 
tion of the fangs, as well as their structure, may be clearly 
seen in these specimens. In the bottles adjacent are other 
rattlesnakes, particularly several from the vicinity of Am-' 



92 visitors' guibk. 

herst. Other interesting objects are the heart of a boa- 
constrictor, the black snake, and one or two tropical snakes. 
Upon the fourth shelf are snakes enough, one would think, 
to satisfy" almost any person, except a naturalist, who, like 
a miser, never has enough until he has the whole. These 
specimens are from all quarters of the earth, but most of 
them are without names. In due time they will all receive 
names, — it may be before this edition of this "Guide 
Book" is exhausted. 

In the next case, upon the lower shelf, may be seen a 
large specimen of a Southern alligator, and by his side his 
skeleton. Upon the second shelf is the skeleton and skull 
of the large green edible turtle, and near him preserved 
specimens of medium-sized snapping turtles, and terrapins 
of various kinds. An interesting series of the Nanemys 
guttata shows the different sizes of the animal at different 
periods of its growth. Other turtles appear upon the second 
shelf, among which are two specimens of the Psammobates 
radiata from Madagascar, a very large snapping turtle, 
turtles' eggs from the temperate and tropical climates, most 
of our common turtles, a small specimen, in a bottle, of the 
Sphargis, or leather turtle of the tropics, etc. Upon the 
upper shelf are numerous specimens of lizards of all sizes, 
and from all parts of the world. Among them are the so- 
called " horned toads," from Texas, etc., which, though com- 
mon in their native regions, are objects of curiosity to most 
persons. Here is tlie Scincus fasciatus, Linn., a very rare 
specimen. Chameleons from Jamaica and Africa are nu- 
merous. Many of the jars are crowded with a hash of 
different kinds of Jamaica lizards, which will be very valu- 
able in making out exchanges, particularly with European 
museums. 

MAMMALS. 

For convenience the mammals are placed in the cases 
before the birds, although higher in the scale of being. In 
the first case of mammals are many miscellaneous speci- 
mens of bones, skulls, teeth, etc. On the lowest shelf are 
three vertebrae of whales, two pieces of whalebone, the cer- 
vical vertebrae of the Delphinus melas, the skin of a v/ood- 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 03 

chuck, having remarkably long teeth, etc. Upon the second 
shelf are placed a number of bats, mostly dried, but some 
preserved in spirit; as for example, several Eolian bats, 
which were captured in a cave eighteen hundred feet above 
the base of Mount Eolus, in Dorset, Yt., in 1860, when the 
•class of 1861 gave the name to the mountain. Tusks of 
the walrus, the skin of an ermine, horns of a goat, teeth of a 
whale, of the extinct species of the horse, of the wild boar, 
etc., are also exhibited here. Upon the third shelf the 
variety is greater. Here may be seen the skulls of many 
small animals ; the teeth of many more, such as the whale, 
camel, elephant, and hippopotamus ; the tail of an elephant, 
the skin of a rhinoceros ; feet of a bear ; skulls of monkeys ; 
daguerreotype of the Aztec children, etc. Upon the upper 
shelves of this and the next case will be seen modelsof the 
heads of men distinguished for good or bad qualities, by 
the side of the heads of various wild and domesticated 
animals. These specimens were designed to illustrate 

phrenology. 

A number of stuffed mammals appear in the last case 
upon the north side of the room. Upon the lower shelf is 
a badger from Minnesota, and a hedgehog, or porcupine, 
from Leveret. Upon the second shelf are two young 
otters from Hadley, and between them a skeleton of a full- 
grown otter. Near them is a preserved specimen of an 
Ornithorhynchus, or duck-billed platypus, one of the most 
singular of all mammals, being the connecting link between 
mammals and birds. Its bill, feet, and part of its internal 
structure are ornithic. The males have a spur upon the 
hind legs. Its hair is intermediate in character between 
hair and feathers. When this animal was first brought to 
the notice of European naturalists, in the dried state, it was 
thought to be an imposition ; but subsequent examination 
has proved the genuineness of his existence. Upon the 
third shelf are quite a number of small mammals. There 
is an interesting series of squirrels, the gray and black from 
Niagara Falls, with varieties of the same species, the chip- 
munk, red squirrel, common flying squirrel, and the larger 
flying squirrel from Hudson's bay. The winter and sum- 
mer dress of our common weasel, the one white and the 



94 VISITORS GUIDE. 

other gray, may be seen. Other animals are the raccoon, 
muskrat, sable, and woodchuck. Upon the upper shelf are 
specunens of rats, mice, and moles, with their skeletons. 
All will be interested in observing the large spade-like front 
feet of the mole. - Here, too, is a three-toed sloth from 
Griiiana, in whose construction, as Cuvier says, " Nature 
seems to have amused herself with producing something 
imperfect and grotesque." No less curious are two species 
of armadillos from South America. 

A few anatomical illustrations and models are found in 
the very small case in the corner. 

Commencing at the right-hand side of the long case at 
the west end of the room, one sees first some monstrosities. 
One is a very fine specimen of a double calf, presented by 
Dr. Anthony Jones, of Newburyport. Another is a double- 
headed lamb, and the third is a calf possessing a rudimentary 
porcine snout. Next is a fine panther, called also American 
cougar, catamount, and Indian devil. It is one of the cat 
tribe. Near it is a beautiful tiger-cat, lying upon its side, 
from Mexico. The most prominent object here is a large 
Greenland seal ; in front of which are some smaller ani- 
mals, particularly a small pig from New York City. Be- 
yond the seal are several carnivorous animals, whose posi- 
tion may be found best by consulting the labels. They are 
a young Canada lynx from Maine, a very stout animal of 
the cat family. Lynx Canadensis. A savage-looking wild 
cat, Lynx rufus, is worthy of notice, because it was killed 
recently at the West Farms in Northampton. One can 
readily distinguish between the cats proper and the lynces. 
The former always have quite a long tail, and the lynces a 
very short one. Near by is a fisher, or black cat, from 
Ashland, Me., and a skeleton of the same animal from 
Wilmington, Vt. 

The large manikin is made of papier mache, and is so 
constructed that it can be taken to pieces, and each muscle 
and organ of tlie body seen in its proper place. This, with 
the skeleton and other models of parts of the human body, 
are used to illustrate the subject of human anatomy to the 
classes. 

About the manikin are various skeletons, particularly 
those of a small monkey, muskrat, domestic cat, skunk, etc. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 95 

A beautiful specimen of the Vulpes lagopus, or white arctic 
fox, will attract universal attention. It was presented by 
Rev. C. C. Carpenter, missionary to Labrador. It is the 
animal's winter dress, the summer coat being of a dark 
color. Near it is a specimen of a young seal, captured off 
Minot's Ledge, whose fur is very smooth, quite the reverse 
of that upon the larger animal of his tribe. The skeleton 
of a black bear, rather young, from Wilmington, Yt., suc- 
ceeds, which is followed by a much larger specimen of the 
same genus, — the grizzly bear of the Rocky mountains, — > 
Ursus horribilis, Ord., — the terror of the mountain country. 
He is represented, characteristically, in the act of feeding 
upon a deer recently killed. On the wall behind is sus- 
pended the skin of the great grizzly bear of Asia jMinor, 
presented by R-ev. H. J. Van Lennep. 

Beyond the bear is an animal, the cause of terror in 
quite another sense, from his power of producing strong 
odors, — our common skunk, with its young. Near it is a 
fine specimen of a raccoon, a starved specimen of our com- 
mon fox, with a skeleton, and an opossum, our American 
representative of the Marsupials. As this is a male, the 
pouch in which the young are carried is not present. 

BIRDS. 

At the south end of this large case are a few large birds. 
The American loon, or northern diver, is represented as 
flying ; a fine large wild turkey is near him, also two very 
large albatross from the South Atlantic ocean. 

In the upright cases upon the south side of the room the 
birds are arranged, according to their natural affinities. So 
far as is possible, they are arranged according to Prof. 
Baird's system of classification in his Ornithology. In the 
first case are the Acciptres, or the birds of prey. Upon 
the second shelf are the golden eagle, three specimens, 
several large hawks, a pair of snow owls, great horned owl, 
etc. Smaller owls and hawks, with several skeletons, are 
upon the upper shelf. 

Upon the upper shelf in the second case are the wood- 
peckers, cuckoos, parrots, etc. Upon the third shelf are a 
large number of v.^arblers, orioles, etc., largely from Ceylon. 



96 VISITOBS' GUIJOI. 

On tlie second shelf are larger species, such as the scarlet 
tanager, some of the thrushes, etc. In the upper part of 
the third case are a number of sparrows, finches, grossbeaks, 
cardinal-bird, snow-bird, etc. On the lower shelf are par- 
tridges, among which are two specimens of the willow 
grouse, or ptarmigan, from the arctic zone, meadow-lark, 
blackbirds, crows, raven, etc. One of the most singular 
varieties are two specimens having exceedingly long though 
very slender tails. These are from Ceylon. For most of 
the specimens from that country we are indebted to Rev. 
Milan H. Hitchcock. 

In the upper part of the fifth case are numerous snipes, 
curlews, woodcocks, plover, etc., mostly from Massachusetts. 
Below are some of the Grallae, or waders, birds with very 
long legs, who live in marshes. Among them are the night 
heron, green heron, bittern, roseate spoonbill, scarlet ibis, 
etc. In the next case are more of the snipes, etc., above, 
and below the Natatores, or swimmers, the web-footed birds. 
These embrace the ducks, geese, auks, etc. Interesting 
specimens are Richardson's jager, the nearest approach in 
the collection to Mother Carey's chickens, a small auk, with 
peculiar bill, from Greenland, and the hooked morgansor. 
Two goosanders from North Hadley are unusually fine 
specimens of the kind. 

In the lower part of the next case are large numbers of 
the eggs and nests of birds, illustrating the science of 
oology. Interesting specimens are the eggs and nest of the 
marsh wren, the humming-bird, golden-crowned thrush, the 
eggs of the African and Australian ostrich. Upon the third 
shelf are examples of the nests of the American and Cey- 
lonese hanging birds, placed side by side, to illustrate the 
differences in the American and Ceylonese fauna. Here 
the birds have their nests open at the top, having very few 
enemies which cannot be avoided, at the ends of the long 
tapering branches to which they are suspended. But in 
Ceylon such a mode would be open to the attacks of snakes. 
Accordingly instinct directs the parent bird to have the en- 
trance to the nest from tlie bottom, and by this means the 
young birds are as secure in Ceylon as in America. Other 
specimens here are eggs from Europe, Ceylon, etc. ; also 



AMfiERST COLLEGE » '^7 

llie skulls of many American birds* On the upper slielf 
are portraits of distinguished naturalists, list of donors ; of 
families of Coleoptera, and charts to illustrate the classifica- 
tion of the animal kingdom and the distribution of animals* 

BOTANICAL SPECIMENS^ 

The rest of the upright cases on the south side of th© 
room are devoted to botanical specimens ; a large number, 
four hundred species, of dried seeds and fruits, with one 
hundred and seventy-five smoothed sections of diiferent sorts 
of wood, chiefly from tropical regionso A Nelumbium, or 
water-lily, from Jamaica, is preserved in spirit, also a night- 
blooming ceres from a conservatory. There are specimens 
of cotton from the regions in the Southern States where it 
has been cultivated so successfully, and from new regions 
in Africa, where its culture is as yet experimentaL Nu- 
merous specimens of branches and trunks of our common 
trees may be seen, and particularly a section of a cocoanut 
tree from Jamaica, and of the Pendleterry tree from Roan- 
eke Isiando Large specimens of curiously bent branches 
and twigs, or of a reunion of branches once separated, and 
many other varieties of interesting forms of vegetation may 
be seen. 

The Herbarium proper is partly placed in the drawers at 
the east end of the room, and partly in the botanical-room 
below. About four thousand well-determined and well- 
mounted species make up the collection. Under the guid- 
ance of Professor Tuckerman and the skilful manipulation 
of Mr. Goodale, this collection has lately assumed a new 
importance. It is divided into three systematic collections : 
the Flora normale-, or all those plants growing within ten 
miles of the College, which is designed especially for pur- 
poses of instruction ; the Flora Americana^ embracing all 
American species, which is nearly complete for the United 
States species ; and the Flora exotica^ comprising all foreign 
plants. 

All persons who are familiar witli the progress of botany, 
are aware that Professor Tuckerman has devoted special 
attention to the Lichens^ an order of cryptogamous plants, 
9 



98 visitors' guide, 

and that he is the highest authority upon them in this coun- 
try. He has a very fine private collection of these interesting 
plants at his residence, consisting of five hundred species of 
American, and three hundred foreign species, of lichens, 
besides two hundred or more species of other cryptogams. 

ARTICULATA. 

Having finished our notice of the wall cases, it becomes 
us now to describe the specimens exhibited in the horizontal 
cases. Those containing the articulate animals commence 
in the horizontal cases at the east end, near the upright 
cases containing the zoophytes, and in passing to the west 
the observer will descend the articulate scale. The highest 
orders are placed at the beginning of the classification. The 
first is the division of the Coleoptera, or the beetles, which 
is the best illustrated of any division of the articulate ani- 
mals. The specimens are impaled on the long and elastic 
insect pins of German manufacture, and are arranged in 
columns, with the label under each specimen, with names of 
species, of locality, and of donor. The generic name stands 
at the head of the column, and the name of each family 
and sub-family of genera is on a block at the head of the 
family. The pins are set in sticks of pine, which contain a 
groove filled with cork, the whole being covered with white 
paper. The width of the sticks, 1^^ inches, allows them 
to be placed in contact without interfering with the labels, 
and each family is bounded by blank sticks. The details of 
this part of the cabinet are too numerous to be given here. 
It will be seen that there are about fifteen or sixteen hun- 
dred species of beetles in five hundred and nineteen genera, 
which represent sixty-six of the seventy-three families of 
Coleoptera. 

The Coleoptera occupy the first seven of the horizontal 
cases. We would call attention to the following families 
and specimens, as the more interesting : In the first case the 
families Cicindelidje, Brachinides, and Carabidae, are well 
represented. Of the Brachinides, the large Mormolyee 
phyllodes from Java will attract attention, on account of 
its singular, broad margin. In the second case the families 
Dycticidse and Silphiadas are worthy of notice. Some of 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 99 

the large specimens of the Scarabidae, in case number three, 
are the largest of all the beetles. We would call attention 
to the Scarabeeus Hercules, S. Theseus, and Goliathus Co- 
cicus ; also to the family Buprestidiie. In the sixth case all 
will be interested in examining the Prionidee and Ceram- 
bycidte, the latter having very long antennas. The Ceram- 
bjx sericens from Bahia shows this character the most dis- 
tinctly. In the seventh case are the Cassodulidte and 
Coccinelidce, or the lady-bugs. 

Among the Orthoptera the Mantis religiosa is interest- 
ing, from its singularity. One specimen of Orthoptera, with 
large wings of delicate pink and bright green colors, is very 
handsome. There are very few Neuoptera in the collec- 
tion. The Hymenoptera, the bees and the v/asps, in the 
next case, are more numerous. A large number of those 
exliibited are from Georgia. 

All will be interested in inspecting the Lepidoptera, — 
the moths, millers, and butterflies, — which occupy the two 
end cases of the first row. Many of these specimens are from 
the tropics, and display well the rich colors belonging to the 
" winged flowers" inhabiting those regions. Tiie first case 
in the second row (at the west end) contains the Heterop- 
tera, Homoptera, and Diptera. A common example of the 
first order is the Cimex lectularius, or commonly kown as 
the bed-bug. Those who have never seen this animal will 
be -gratified to be able to see him with a pane of glass inter- 
vening. Those who may be familiar with them may like to 
compare the quality of the different breeds, to see whether 
the .animals can thrive as well when feasting upon the 
juices of collegians, as upon others in the community, — for 
it must be confessed, as the label makes patent, that South 
College is inhabited by these wild beasts. If we may be- 
lieve the numerous stories narrated by collegians of their 
powers, these animals are both heroes and giants ; their 
superior energies being, no doubt, implanted by the higher 
quality of their diet, deriving in some degree the energy 
and spirit of those from whx)m the juices are extracted. 

Among the Homoptera, the most conspicuous objects are 
the Cicadas, of whom the poet sings : — 

" Hnppy tlie cicada lives, 
Since they all have voiceless ivives/' 



100- TISITOBS^ CIUIJOTT. 

The Diptera are the flies. Many of those exhibited are 
very large. The gnat and mosquito belong to this order ; 
also the black fljy so troublesome in the wild lands of our 
continent.. The male mosquitos are perfectly harmless, and 
it is said to be only the females who charm by their music 
the victims of their voracity. 

In the second case in this row are miscellaneous speci- 
m.enSy among which are scorpions, scolopendrjs, and those 
curious habitations of the spider, from ' Jamaica. In the 
third case is a valuable collection of crabs from Jamaica, 
which were m^ide by Professor Adams, at the expense of 
W^ A. Nichols,, in one of his visits to the island,. Many 
rare forms are found among them. They have recently 
beerb named at the Smithsonian Institution. In the fourth 
ease is a fine collection of Cirrhopeda, which are noticed 
under the description of the mollusca. They are true ar- 
ticulates, but were formerly referred to the moilusca. In 
the last case only miscellaneous specimens are now placed, 
consisting largely of duplicates. There is, however, a curi- 
ous insect from Persia, of very noxious character, presented 
by Dr^ Perkins of Oroomiah.. 

MOLLUSCA. 

The splendid collection of the shells of Moilusca, pre- 
sented by Professor Adams, is wholly in the horizontal 
cases to the left of those containing the insects. The clas- 
sification commences at the southwest corner of the room^ 
in the ease close by the rapacious birds, and follows the 
south side of the case through the whole row, when it turns 
back along the other side of the first row to its starting 
point -y then it commences again upon the corresponding 
side of the second row of eases, and then back again. In 
this way the order may be traced tlirough all the rows, until 
the lowest species of mollusc is reached. About eight thou- 
sand species of shells are exhibited. Every guide to 
the classification which the visitor needs, will be found 
within the cases. No collection in this cabinet is more 
beautifully or systematically arranged than this.. 

The shells of the class Cephalopoda arc represented by 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 101 

several very large specimens. A cuttle-fish bone is nine 
and one fourth inches long. The pens of Loligo resemble 
films of glass. A paper nautilus (Argonauta argo), ob- 
tained by Professor Hovey, is remarkable for the manner 
in which a fracture had been repaired by the animal, so as 
to include a broken piece after it bad been turned wrong 
side out. Tills fact corroborates the statement now generally 
admitted, that the so-called sails of the animal are used 
only for enveloping the shell. A more complete descrip- 
tion of this fractured shell was published in the American 
Journal of Science for July, 1848. A Nautilus pompilius 
may here be seen, which is nine and a half inches long, 
and seven inches high. 

In the class Gasteropoda, the first family, Gyprceidce, is 
represented by a majority of its known species in the eight 
genera. Most of the species are represented by numerous 
varieties. 

Among its beautiful associates, the large and elegant 
Oliva porphyria is conspicuous. One of the specimens is 
four inches long. Of Cyprasa pantherina there are seventy 
specimens, of which no two are alike. Of the costly Cyp- 
raaa mappa there are seventeen varieties, all but one of 
which are in the most perfect state of preservation. Cyp- 
raea reticulata appears with four distinct groups of varieties. 
Several species of this genus may be seen in their different 
stages of growth, in form so unlike that the uninitiated 
would not suppose them to belong to the same group of 
animals. The magnificent specimens of Cyprsea aurantium 
are very valuable and rare. They are worn as badges of 
office in some of the islands of the Pacific ocean, and com- 
mand high price. There are one hundred species of this most 
beautiful of all the genera ; and of these, perhaps none are 
surpassed in delicacy of tints by the small C. annulata and 
C. gemmula. C. testudinaria has been said to be the largest 
species in this genus ; but here may be seen three large 
specimens of C. tigris of nearly equal size, one of which is 
nine and one eighth and eleven and two thirds inches in the 
transverse and longitudinal circumference, and consequently 
much exceeds the C. testudinaria in diameter. In contrast 
is a full-grown specimen of the same species (C. tigris), 

9* 



102 TisifOKS^ mimL 

wliicli is only four and a half and five and two fifth inches in 
the above dimensions. Of Erato cjproeoides, the only two 
specimens known to us are in this collection. Many other 
specimens in other families are probably unique, but our 
limits will not permit further notice of them. About four 
hundred varieties of fifty species of Marginella conclude 
this most fascinating of ail the families of moilusca. 

Of the second family^ Mitridcs, will also be found all the 
known genera, and a large majority of the species. In the 
three genera, Yoluta, Cymbium, and Melo, all the species 
are more or less rare. The specimens of Voluta imperia- 
lis may be noticed for its size, and V. delessertiana for its 
rarity and beauty. Of the eighty species of Mitra, several 
appear to be unknown to foreign collections, and M. ustu- 
lata is said by Mr. Reeve to be unique in the celebrated 
Norrisian collection (in England) of this genus. The 
genus Columbella concludes this family with sixty species 
of small shells, among which the rare C. dormitor of Sow- 
erby appears, with several rich purple specimens, rendering 
it probable that the figure of* this English author was taken 
from a bleached specimen. 

The third family, Purpuridce, also appear with a large 
majority of species in all its sixteen genera. Of Buccinum, 
including Nassa, there are about one hundred and twenty 
species. Among the forty species of Terebra, the T. macu- 
lata, '' the marlinspike," in the nomenclature of sailors, is 
represented by several fine specimens, one of which weighs 
one pound, and another is eight and one third inches long. 
All the species of the beautiful genus Eburna appear ; 
among them, the specimens of E. spirata are of unsual size 
and beauty. A large number of species of Eicinula and 
Purpura come next, and many of the shells are stained 
with the imperial purple for which these animals have long 
been celebrated, but which is superseded by the cochineal 
insect, that furnishes to the poor a luxury once restricted to 
imperial wealth and dignity. In the next genus is a good 
specimen of the rare and large Monoceros giganteum. 
Then we find the elegant genus Harpa, represented by 
forty varieties of seven species. A Ilarpa ventricosa is 
five inches lono; and tln-ee and a half inches wide. 



AMHERST COLLEGE. 103 

Next is the genus Dolium, coRtaining the great and rare 
Dolium melanostomuni before mentioned, wliich is nearly 
ten inches long and eight wide. In the genus Cassis is the 
only univalve shell (a Cassis cornuta) which is too large to 
go into the cases. It is in an upright case, and is two feet 
ten inches in the longitudinal circumference, and two feet 
two inches around at the base of the tubercles. The genus 
Oniscia terminates this family. 

The fourth family, Magilidce, is wanting. 

The fifth family, Gonidcs, consisting of the single genus 
Conus, of wdiich the collection contains one hundred and 
fifteen species, most of which are elegant, and the group 
of brocaded cones at the end of the series is eminently 
beautiful. 

The sixth family of Strombidce is represented by all the 
genera, and nearly all the known species. Both in Strom- 
bus and Pterocera the different forms of many species in 
diiferent stages of growth excite not a little astonishment. 
The young and the old of Strombus galeatus and of Strom- 
bus gigas, and the seven stages of Pterocera lambis are 
remarkable examples. The largest specimens of the great 
Strombus gigas were collected by Prof. Adams, in Jamaica. 
One of them weighs six and a half pounds ! and is the 
heaviest univalve in the collection. Perhaps the most ele- 
gant species in this family is the Strombus. One of the 
most rare and least beautiful specimens in this family is the 
full-grown Chenopus occidentalis. This family takes the 
visitor around the east end of the south row of cases. 

An interesting relic may be seen among the specimens 
of Strombus gigas. It is the veritable conch shell which 
our fathers used for a bell upon College Hill, when the 
church occupied the. place of the Woods Cabinet. Ail pub- 
lic meetings of the town, and the ordinary meetings of the 
Sabbath, were regulated by the sound of this shell, just as 
they now a,re by the bell. Our ancestors must have 
" had a large blow," since it is said that the reverberations 
from this worn piece of furniture were often heard in the 
streets of Old Hadley, four miles distant. It was pre- 
sented by Mr. David Parsons. 

Of the seventh family, MuricidcE, we find a majority of 



10-1 VISITORS' GUIDE. 

the known species. Of the well-known Triton varlegatum, 
we find a series from one third inch to fourteen inches long. 
A Murex ramosus has one of its fringed spines four and a 
half inches long, and measures ten and a half inches be- 
tween the most distant points of the shell. Several large 
specimens of that gorgeous species, Murex regius, may be 
seen near the great specimens of Murex ramosus ; one of 
them exceeds, and each of the two equals, a pound weight. 
Perhaps the most beautiful of this family, among the large 
shells, are three specimens of Murex bicolor. In the genus 
Pyrula is one of the largest and heaviest specimens of hete- 
rostrophe (left-sided) shells, a specimen of Pyrula perversa, 
eleven and three fourths inches long, and weighing three 
pounds. In the genus Ficula, unequalled for graceful 
forms, in addition to the four species described by Mr. 
Reeve, we find a fifth, Ficula papyratia, of Say. Speci- 
mens may be seen next of Fusus aruanus and of Fascio- 
laria gigas, species which attain a greater size than any 
other univalve shells. The specimen of the former is 
richly colored, and exceeds seventeen inches in length ; it 
weighs four and a half pounds. A larger specimen may 
be seen in the upright cases. About ninety species of Pleu- 
rotoma, including Mangelia, mostly small shells, terminate 
this family, which otherwise consists chiefly of large species. 
The eighth family, Turhinidce, is represented by fifteen 
genera, and many hundred species. Of that extraordinary 
shell, Scalaria pretiosa, which was once valued at one hun- 
dred guineas, but is now comparatively common in collec- 
tions, there are three specimens. In this family is the least 
of all our marine shells of mollusca, Skenea serpuloides, 
weighing, when mature, one hundredth of a grain, accom- 
panied by highly magnified figures drawn by Mrs. Adams. 
In the genus Turbo may be seen many solid opercula (eye- 
stones) of curious forms. One of them is large enough for 
the eye of a Polyphemus, being three and one third inches 
in diameter. A shell of the great Turbo marmoratus, to 
which species the Operculum belongs, is six and three fourths 
inches wide. The collection contains a large number of 
fine and rare species in this genus (Turbo). Passing by 
Trochus, Vv^e find three species of Phorus, celebrated for in- 



AJIHEnST COLLEGE. 105 

serting into their own shells, in the progress of growth, small 
stones and other shells, whence they have been called Min- 
eralogists and Conchologists. In the genus Cingula, some 
embryo specimens of C. minuta do not exceed one five 
hundredth of a grain. 

The ninth family, LittorinidcEy contains a large number 
of species, with endless varieties. Many of them, although 
marine shells, are so amphibious in their habits, that they 
were found by Prof. Adams on bushes and dry sticks and 
rocks near the shores of Jamaica, and although packed 
closely, were alive in Vermont during the following sum- 
mer. Some of the most extraordinary forms of shells are 
in this family, in the genus Chemnitria, but unfortunately 
the shells are so small as not to be visible in their curious 
details of form and structure. 

The tenth family, Haliotidce, contains a large portion of 
the known species, one of the most remarkable of which 
was recently described by the Curator, with the name of 
Haliotis ponderosa, the weight being two pounds two ounces ! 
Here are two large shells of this genus (Haliotis), polished 
by J. T. Ames, Esq., of Chicopee. The extraordinary 
degree of lustre, combined with the vivid play of prismatic 
colors, place them among tke most elegant products of na- 
ture and art combined. Many other polished specimens 
may be seen in the cabinet, and they are valued as exhibit- 
ing interesting properties in shells ; for it is not merely the 
object of the cabinet to exhibit the characteristics of species, 
but their entire history, as far as practicable. That these 
results of the unrivalled skill of Mr. Ames will never be 
equalled, we will not affirm, but we are quite confident that 
they never have been. 

Family eleventhj Tornatellidce, family twelfth, Vermeti- 
^ce^ — remarkable for its shells being tubular and often 
intertwining and adhering solidly in masses, — and family 
thirteenth, Janthinidcey — remarkable for its delicate pur- 
ple shells that float in the open ocean, — occupy a small 
space after the large specimens of Haliotis. 

Family fourteenth, Naticidce. Here is a gigantic Natica 
heros, the largest known, being four and one eighth inches 
lon^. Here also is the singular spawn of two species of 



106 visitors' guide. 

this genus, imbedded in a lamina of sand, and the whole 
agglutinated in the form of a saucer, without the flat base 
of this utensil. Family fifteenth, NeritidiE, commences 
near the west end of the second row of cases, and contains 
innumerable varieties of these beautiful shells, which are 
mostly inhabitants of tropical or warm climates. The 
genus Neritina, which was once supposed to be only a 
marine genus, is divided into two groups, the marine and 
the fluviatile, the latter ending the family on the right. 

The sixteenth family, Melanidce, contains a very numer- 
ous group, as may be seen in the cases, where are six gen- 
era and several hundred species. The first genus, Rissoa, 
is remarkable for the uniform small size of its shells. Of 
fifty species in the collection the largest is less than one 
eighth inch wide. This and the next genus, Cerithium, are 
marine, but all the rest are from fresh water. In the i-are 
and extraordinary genus lo, we find fluviatile shells with a 
canal, an organ which otherwise is found only in marine 
mollusca ; and, singularly enough, this genus is limited to a 
single river, Holstein river, Tenn., the water of which is 
'made brackish by salt springs. Melania will be seen to 
have a great number of species, which are mostly from the 
streams of the Western States. 

The seventeenth family, Paludinidce, are all from fresh 
water. ELere may be seen, side by side, the numerous Pal- 
udinse of temperate climates, and the AmpuUariie, which 
take their place in hot climates. Among the latter is one 
which was taken at Bangkok, in Jan., 1842, and sent to 
Professor Adams as a fossil shell ; but it contained the liv- 
ing animal so completely protected from evaj)oration by its 
solid operculum, that it reached Vermont alive, and perished 
only with the cold of the following winter. 

The eighteenth family, Physadce^ also consists of numer- 
ous species of fresh-water shells. Among its rarities may 
be seen the large Lirana3a megasona, ten specimens, and 
the singular and rare L. gracilis, from its only two known 
localities in Lake Champlain and in Ohio, some of the lat- 
ter being of unusual size. 

The nineteenth family, Cyclostomidce, is the commence- 
ment of an extensive series of land shells, which are the 



AMHERSl! COLLEGJil. 107 

favorites of so many collectors. This family is mostly 
restricted to tropical climates. Here is Pupina, peculiar 
among land shells for its brilliant polish. Here, also, are 
some of the most valuable of the collections made by Pro- 
fessor Adams in the island of Jamaica, and several of the 
species are scarcely known in other collections. The pre- 
vailing color of the labels will show at a glance how rich 
are the West Indies in these beautiful operculated shells. 

The twentieth family, Helicidce, contains the rest of the 
land shells, making the number upwards of one thousand 
species. Here may be seen entire genera mostly or wholly 
limited to comparatively small portions of the earth's sur- 
face. The Achatina perdix from Liberia, the most gigan- 
tic of land shells, may be seen, six and a half inches long 
and four inches in diameter. A little further is the least 
of all the full-grown shells in the collection. Pupa milium, 
weighing tv/o hundredths of a grain. A specimen is en- 
closed betweea plates of mica in a slip of ivory, and placed 
at the side of the case so as to be easily seen by visitors. 
At the end of Bulimus and commencement of Helix are 
the elegant land shells of the Phillipine Islands, comprising 
many rarities. Next are the snail shells of Europe, an 
extensive series. Farther on, the snail shells (Helices) of 
the United States will be seen to be much inferior in beau- 
ty to any of the other geographical groups of this genus. 

The twenty-first family, Limicidce, exhibits the naked 
snails. The twenty-second family, AplysidcB, is represented 
by the internal shells of these animals. 

The twenty-third family, BulUdce, contains the curious 
bubble shells ^of Bulla, etc. The twenty-fourth family, 
HimuUdce, comprises numerous species, Fissurella, with an 
opening, often shaped like a keyhole, in the summit. The 
twenty-sixth family, UmhrelUdce, is represented by very 
large specimens of these rare shells. The twenty-seventh 
family, PatelUdcE, comprises numerous species of Patella, 
limpet shells, and of Chiton resembling coats of mail. 
Families PhylliJidoe, Doridte, and Eolidse, destitute of 
shells, are not yet represented. The family Calyptrceidce 
closes the Gasteropod class. 

Commencing in the next case with the class Brachiopoda, 



108 visiTOKS^ atJiM* 

we find tlie first order represented by ten species of Tere- 
bratula, and the second order hj Orbicula, Crania, and 
Lingula* 

The next class, Acephala, first order Unimusculosa, first 
family OstraeidcB, contains the irregular pearly Anomise, 
and the pearly Placunas, pulverized and used for spangling 
water colors by the Chinese, and closes~with the true oys- 
ters, some of the specimens of which are of gigantic size* 

The second family, Peotenidce, is represented by five of 
its six genera. The hinge of Spondylus will be admired 
for its mechanism. Of the great water Spondylus one 
weighs fourteen pounds ; another has in it a hole of the 
diameter and length of a finger, made by a boring shell, 
which may be seen farther on in its genus Lithodomus. 
The great genus Pecten (scollop shells) will be admired 
for its beauty. Here is the Pecten Jacobasus, the flat 
valve of which was worn by the Crusaders as a cockade, a 
fact thought by Voltaire to account for all fossil shells. 

Family third, MalleidcB, appears next with several genera^ 
among which will be seen the curious hammer oyster (Mal- 
leus), and the pearl oyster, Avicula margaritifera, with sev- 
eral varieties and stages of growth. 

The second order, Bimusculosa, commences with family 
first, Mytilidce, and comprises the muscle shells and those 
large thin shells the Pinme. The second family, Tridac- 
fiidcB, contains the largest of all shells, constituting Tridac- 
na and Hyppopus, of which many of the species are in 
the case. The only bivalve which could not be placed in 
the cases (v/hfcli are seven inches deep), is the great T. 
gigas in the upright case. « 

The third family, Hyppuritidce^ contains only fossil spe- 
cies, and is represented in the Geological Cabinets The 
fourth family, Chamidce, is represented by many of the 
irregular shells of Chama: some elegant shells of deep 
red and delicate yellow will here be seen firmly adherent 
to each other. 

The fifth family, Unionidce (fresh-water clams), is repre- 
sented by all the genera and a large majority of the spe- 
cies. With their numerous varieties they occupy several 
cases. Among them will be seen the largest of fresh- water 



AMHfiRSt COLLEGE* 109 

shells, Unio lieros of the "Western States, a heavy shell, of 
which one specimen is eight inches long and four and three 
quarters inches high* 

The sixth family^ Arcidw, contains the toany*toothed 
shells. Here is the largest Nucula limatula known ; the 
huge Area grandis, and the odd A. tortuosa^ with the 
Noah's arks, form a singular group of shells* 

The seventh family, Oardndce, contains many noble 
shells. The Cardita Cuvierii, of which only five other 
specimens are known, four in England and one in this 
country, is the largest of the genus. In Cardium will be 
seen many large and fine specimens. The specimen of 
C. elatum is probably not surpassed, being five and a quar- 
ter inches lonp^ and six inches hio-h. 

The eighth family, Veuidce, is represented by an extent 
sive series of these most elegant of bivalve shells, com- 
mencing with Astarte, and ending with Cyprina. Here 
will be seen an elegantly polished valve of the common 
quahog. The ninth family, Gyrenidm, consists of fresh- 
water shells. Here are four specimens of the rare Gala- 
thea radiata of Western Africa, at the beginning of this 
family, which closes with the small shells of Cyclas, so 
common in New England. The tenth family, Telleaidce^ 
commences with the rare and elegantly sculptured Corbis 
fimbriata. Here may be seen the remainder of the Teilen* 
ida, ending with Sanguinolaria. The eleventh family, Pet'- 
ricolidce^ contains a few species of Yernerupis, Petricola, 
and Saxicava. 

The twelfth familyj 31actridce, is represented by six of 
its seven genera, commencing with Amphidesma and end- 
ing wdth Lutraria. In the genus Mactra will be seen large 
and fine species. The Mactra solidissima, polished by Mr. 
Ames, exhibits in a beautiful manner the layers of growth, 
and resembles ash-colored agate. Family thirteenth, T/ira^ 
cidce, is represented by all its four genera, Osteoesma to 
Anatina, and contains many rare and delicate shells. The 
fourteenth family, Myidce, contains Pandora, Corbula, and 
Mya. In the latter genus will be seen a gigantic specimen 
of the common long clam, Mya arenaria, from Chelsea 
beach in this State ; this sliell is five and a half inches 
10 



110 VISITORS GUIDE. 

long and three and a half inches high. Family fifteenth, 
Solenid(E^ commences with Solemya and ends with Solen. 
In the former will be seen two of the finest specimens 
known of that rare and curious shell, S. borealis. All the 
specimens of Gljcimeris were taken from the stomachs of 
fishes. In Solen will be seen a large number and variety 
of razor shells. Family sixteenth, PlioladidcE^ contains 
Pholas and Teredo. A fragment of a tube of the latter is 
one and a half inches in diameter. The seventeenth fami- 
ly, Aspergillidce, is represented by Gastrochena (the gapers), 
Aspergillum (the watering-pot shells), in which the two 
little valves may be seen soldered into the long tube, and 
Fistuluria. 

In the class Cirrhopoda, the first order, the Pedunculated 
Cirrhopods, is represented by five genera, of three of 
which the animals are preserved in alcohol. The second 
order, the Sessile Cirrhopods, is represented by barnacles 
of six genera. Here may be seen the great Balanus tin- 
tinnabulum, which infests the sides of ships. 

Several large specimens are exhibited in different parts of 
the room. Among them are the following : The cranium of 
a hunchback whale, the lower jaw with the teeth of a young 
sperm whale, presented by Rev. W. A. Mandell ; the ribs, 
vertebrae, and jawbones- of whales; the skeleton of the 
black-fish, a small whale or cetacean from Provincetown, 
and the skeleton of a horse. The blackfish, Glolicephalus 
melas Serson, will give a good idea of the structure of the 
Avhale division, since they are really small whales, the com- 
mon name of " fish " being inappropriate. It is from Prov- 
incetown. The skeleton of the horse was mounted by 
Professor E. Hitchcock, Jr. Many persons mistake the 
large jawbones of the M^hale, under the Coleoptera case, for 
the rilDS. Two of the ribs are placed adjacent to the jaw- 
bones, in order that the difference between them may be 
readily appreciated. 

A number of other large specimens will shortly be 
placed in the Cabinet, and will be seen by most of the 
possessors of the Guide Book. They are beaver skeletons, 
a caribou skeleton, and the skeleton of a female moose, all 
from Ashland, Maine, and procured by the kindness of 



AMHERST COLLEGE. Ill 

Rev. M. R. Keep. The visitors of the Zoological Cabinet, 
and all who are interested in the higher animals, are great- 
ly indebted to this gentleman for his efforts in gratuitously- 
procuring these large specimens for the cabinet. A mis- 
sionary in one of the outposts of civilization, with a salary 
reduced to the starvation point of the missionary scale of 
reckoning, his love for natural history impels him to cultivate 
its practical acquaintance, and assist others in the acquisition 
of specimens. He has sent our collectors here specimens 
which cannot be found in any other cabinet in our country, 
and whose value all told must now be estimated at no less 
than two hundred dollars. His services in aiding the Sci- 
entific Survey of Maine have also been of great value, as 
we can personally testify after a difHcult jaunt through the 
thickets surrounding Mt. Katahdin. 

The total number of species of animals and plants exhib- 
ited in the Appleton Cabinet cannot be less than eighteen 
thousand. 

We cannot better close this sketch of the cabinets than 
by quoting some remarks made by Professor Adams in 
reply to allusions made to his cabinet in 1848 by Professor 
B. Silliman, Sen., at the dedication of the Woods Cabinet. 
They will show the spirit which actuated his arduous 
labors. 

" The efforts of naturalists to exhibit the true order of 
nature, can never fail to gratify a correct and refined taste. 
Such order is of far higher origin than mere human invention, 
and is so perfect as to harmonize no less with our emotions 
of beauty than with our ideas of fitness and method. It is 
indeed one of the most delightful features of science, that 
the farther she advances in a correct knowledge of nature, 
the more systematically and harmoniously are all the pow- 
ers of the intellect and the emotions of beauty and virtue 
gratified and invigorated. Nor can the lesson of humility 
be lost on the lover of science, since his highest efforts con- 
sist only in the discovery and exhibition of a beauty and 
perfection, which not only does not originate in him, but 
which extends far beyond the most distant flights of his 
imagination. A feeble beginning has been made here in the 



112 visitors' guide. 

exhibition of the divine plan of nature. That it should meet 
the approbation of one whose life has been a long series of 
eminent services rendered to science, is truly gratifying. 
We are encouraged to hope that what has been done is in 
harmony with the highest truths, when it is regarded with 
satisfaction by one who has been accustomed, in the diffu- 
sion of science, ably and happily to illustrate the infinite 
glories of the great Author of nature.'* 



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020 773 479 2 



